#BeachWrestling

Beach Wrestling named a core discipline for 2023 & 2025 ANOC World Beach Games

Friday, August 20, 2021 - 12:01 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 20) -- The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) has named wrestling, with the specific discipline of Beach Wrestling, as one of nine sports to its core program for both the 2023 and 2025 ANOC World Beach Games.

We are proud to announce that during the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the president of United World Wrestling (UWW), Nenad Lalovic, has signed an agreement with ANOC’s Secretary General, Gunilla Lindberg, for Beach Wrestling to be part of the mandatory events of the ANOC World Beach Games sports program for the 2023 and 2025 editions of the event.

“We are delighted to sign a MoU with ANOC and solidify Beach Wrestling for the World Beach Games in 2023 and 2025. ANOC organized world-class Games in Qatar and I am very pleased we will continue to grow beach wrestling and the Beach Games together,” states UWW’s president Lalovic.

Part of the 10 core sports, Beach Wrestling is planned to continue with the same format as in 2019 with 8 categories, 4 men and 4 women. 80 athletes in total, with 64 under qualification process established by the UWW plus 16 invitations.

Beach Wrestling was part of the first ANOC World Beach World Games, held in Qatar in 2019. The inclusion as a core sport for the upcoming two editions represent a major development for the UWW’s fastest growing discipline, as ANOC is an important organization with ties to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the various international federations of Olympic sports (IF), in addition to serving the National Olympic Committees.

All further details will be announced in due time!

Find out all about the Beach Wrestling World Series and watch the competitions live at www.beachwrestling.org

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#WrestleBudapest

Must-watch storylines from Budapest Ranking Series

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - 23:52 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 4) -- As the Budapest Ranking Series gets underway Thursday in the Hungary capital, a few intriguing storylines will be seen on the mats. Countries will be finalizing their Olympic line-ups, a few star wrestlers are returning to competition while others are competing for the ranking points.

Here are the top storylines that no wrestling fan should miss at the Budapest Ranking Series which will be live on uww.org using UWW+.

Iran's dilemma

A wrestle-off is set to be held by Iran in Budapest to decide on the Paris Olympic team. Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) won the spot by winning bronze at the World Championships. But Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI) won the Asian Championships to lay his claim for the 67kg gold medal.

60kg will also see a wrestle-off as Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) is set to face Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) to decide who goes to the Paris Games.

Also, Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) is wrestling!

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) will wrestle for the first time since winning gold medal at the Asian Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Sachiko Hotaka)

Yazdani returns

Undoubtedly Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) returning to competition is the big show in Budapest. Since winning the silver medal at the World Championships in Belgrade, Yazdani has wrestled only once, winning the gold medal at the Asian Games. A shoulder injury kept him out for eight months but Yazdani will be wrestling at 86kg on Thursday.

Before the Ranking Series, there were talks in Iran about a potential clash of Yazdani against 92kg world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) who is looking to make the Paris Olympic team for Iran. But Iran decided to send Yazdani alone and will assess his performance before deciding on a trial between the two.

Ziqi FENG (CHN)Ziqi FENG (CHN) gave a scare to Yui SUSAKI (JPN) in the Asian Championships final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

China's problem of plenty

China rarely sends a portion of its team to the Ranking Series. But it has sent only five wrestlers for Budapest, all in Women's Wrestling. Three wrestlers are entered at 50kg and two at 57kg, expected for a wrestle-off.

Yu ZHANG (CHN), Jiang ZHU (CHN) and Ziqi FENG (CHN) are fighting for the Paris Olympic spot at 50kg. Feng won the quota for China by winning the bronze medal at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Qi ZHANG (CHN) and Kexin HONG (CHN) will wrestle off for the spot at 57kg. Hong won the quota at the Asian Olympic Qualifier in Bishkek. But Zhang, a world champion at 59kg, won the Asian Championships, a run that also had a win over Risako KINJO (JPN) in the first round.

Jamalov's switch

Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) has been waiting for his Uzbekistan debut which will finally happen in Budapest. Jamalov will take the mat at 74kg and can also face Bekzhod ABURKHAMANOV (UZB), meaning that their match can also be a wrestle-off.  Jamalov has not wrestled at an international event since finishing fifth at the 2021 European Championships but has previously shown that he can win against any top wrestler on his day.