#BeachWrestling

Beach Wrestling World Series sees 30 percent rise in participation

Monday, October 16, 2023 - 23:59 By United World Wrestling Press

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(Left to right): Rui MARTA (POR), Mohamed MAHMOUD ALY (EGY), Ed DUNCAN (USA), Pedro SILVA, Jean-Daniel REY, Marian BERBEC (ROU), Jian WANY (CHN), Erol KARACA (UKR), Papakonstantinou KONSTANTINOS (GRE).

SARIGERME, Turkiye (October 16) --- After four stops on three continents, the Beach Wrestling World Series came to an end in Sarigerme, Turkiye this weekend.

The World Series began in Buenos Aires (ARG) before travelling to Singapore (SGP), returning to Saint-Laurent-du-Var (FRA) and Constanta (ROU) and the final stop in Sarigerme.

The 2023 edition of the series saw both the number of participating countries and wrestlers grow exponentially. The number of participating nations doubled from last year with more than 50 nations participating from five continents. There was a growth of 30 percent in the number of wrestlers, both men and women, on the beach.

The Beach Wrestling Committee organized its yearly meeting on the sidelines of the final stop in Turkiye with committee President and United World Wrestling Bureau member Pedro SILVA headed the meet.

Silva presented the report to the committee members, underlining the continuous growth of Beach Wrestling. The report noted the participation of additional countries like Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Singapore, Senegal, Australia, among others, highlighting that Beach Wrestling being on the right path.

“We are very happy with the progress, growth and development that we are witnessing worldwide regarding Beach Wrestling,” said Silva, Beach Wrestling Committee President. "This must leave us all proud of our achievements and also very confident about our future.”

The meeting reviewed the current rules and regulations of Beach Wrestling and Committee members agreed that a few minor adjustments need to be made.

From the next season of Beach Wrestling will see an activity period being added to avoid any subjective decision by the refereeing body in case of negative wrestling with a 0–0 score.

It was also noted that wrestlers should be paired better in a situation with three groups. Bleeding time in Beach Wrestling was also increased to four minutes.

The Beach Wrestling calendar for 2024 was also discussed in the meeting as UWW received many proposals. UWW will do its best to publish the 2024 calendar by the end of this year.

The Committee also spoke about the potential collaborations that can be finalized for next season (producers of rings, wrestlers’ apparel).

Members also brought up the topic of sustainability and climate change and it was unanimously approved that Beach Wrestling should spearhead these projects.

The World Series in 2023, especially the final stop, showed that the discipline has the dedication of people associated with it. With the support of each National Federation, the future is full of hope and bright.

Follow Beach Wrestling on Instagram: @uwwbeachwrestling or on Youtube: @BeachWrestlingWorldSeries.

#WrestleBucharest

Stadnik wins 10th European title; Adar makes golden return

Thursday, February 15, 2024 - 19:17 By Vinay Siwach

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BUCHAREST, Romania (February 15) -- A lot of focus before the European Championships this year was on Riza KAYAALP (TUR) going past Aleksandar KARELIN's record of 12 European gold medals. Understandable as those are the only two wrestlers with European titles in double digits.

But on Thursday, a woman joined the two legends with her 10th European gold medal -- Mariya STADNIK (AZE).

At the age of 35 years, Stadnik remains unbeaten in Europe winning the gold medal at 50kg at the European Championships in Bucharest, Romania.

The fact that she did that without conceding a point in three matches speaks volumes about her level even so later in her career which has spanned over 15 years now.

Mariya STADNIK (AZE)Mariya STADNIK (AZE) pins Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) in the 50kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Stadnik wrestled former European champion Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) in the final and never faced a real threat. Demirhan tried to hit a whizzer but Stadnik stopped her and scored two points. That made Demirhan cautious of attacking Stadnik and kept her distance. Stadnik led 3-0 at the break for a passivity point.

Demirhan tried pushing Stadnik out in the second period but the latter blocked her again and tripped her for a four-pointer. Turkiye challenged the call and won as the jury ruled it was only a stepout, making the score 4-0 in Stadnik's favor. But Stadnik did not take long to hit a four-pointer and secure the fall in four minutes and two seconds.

In her earlier bouts, Stadnik defeated Milana DADASHEVA (AIN) in two minutes and 12 second while Oksana LIVACH (UKR), the finalist last year, managed to hold Stadnik for six minutes but dropped her semifinal bout 6-0.

Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) celebrates after winning the 59kg gold medal in Bucharest. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Azerbaijan won a second gold medal at 59kg as Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) defeated Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR) 3-3 in the final. With that, Kolesnik won her first career championship title ever.

Kolesnik led Filipovych 1-1 on criteria as both wrestlers were given activity time and both failed to score. As soon as her activity time ended, Filipovych hit a single-leg attack and scored a takedown with a minute and 26 seconds remaining in the match.

But still time left in the bout Kolesnik hooked Filipovych's leg using her own and tried coming on top. The referee did not confirm any control but did caution the Ukrainian athlete for blocking. Azerbaijan challenged asking for a takedown and it was confirmed by the jury, giving Kolesnik a 3-3 criteria lead and 24 seconds to defend.

She would go on to defend her lead and win the gold medal, becoming the second woman wrestler from Azerbaijan to win the senior European title.

The defending champion at 59kg and the favorite to repeat Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) pulled out of the competition after suffering an injury in her quarterfinal against Tamara DOLLAK (HUN). Nichita was reported to have broken ribs.

Yasemin ADAR (TUR)Yasemin ADAR (TUR) won her seventh European title on Thursday. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Yasemin ADAR (TUR) became the second most successful woman wrestler in Europe after she won her seventh gold medal, only behind Stadnik's 10. She won her first title in 2016 and has since won in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. She also has a silver medal from 2020.

Wrestling in the final against Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR), Adar did not contact much in the first period, giving Shustova a passivity point and a 1-0 lead at the break. But she shifted gears in the second period, hitting a double-leg for a takedown and a turn to lead 4-1 while Shustova was on the activity clock. As the clock expired, Adar led 5-1.

As Shustova attempted a desperate low single, Adar got around and threw her for a four which Ukraine challenged. Shustova seemed to have control on Adar and Ukraine asked that its wrestler should get the four. It lost the challenge and Adar led 10-1. Adar would finish the final with a takedown and a 12-1 score with a minute remaining.

Buse TOSUN (TUR)World champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) won her first European title. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

World champion Buse TOSUN (TUR) gave Turkiye a second gold medal, winning her first European title after she won the 68kg gold medal against Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR).

Tosun won silver medals in the last two editions of the European Championships but managed to cross the final hurdle, five months after becoming a world champion at 68kg.

After a minute of little action, Tosun hit trip on Sova and got while Sova rolled over Tosun to get two points for herself, making the score 4-2 in Tosun's favor. Sova was called passive in the second period which awarded Tosun another point to make it 5-2.

Andreea ANA (ROU)Andreea ANA (ROU) won her third straight European title and first at home. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Andreea ANA (ROU) defended her 55kg gold medal dominantly in front of her home crowd to give Romania a gold medal at this European Championships. This was Ana's third consecutive European gold medal.

Wrestling Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) in the final, Ana built a 4-0 lead. She hit a counter in the second period and got a takedown which Moldova challenged but lost making it 7-0 for Ana. She would hit a snap takedown and a counter to finish the bout 11-0 with 22 seconds remaining on the clock.

 

df

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Mariya STADNIK (AZE) df. Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), via fall (10-0)

BRONZE: Milana DADASHEVA (AIN) df. Oksana LIVACH (UKR), 17-15
BRONZE: Miglena SELISHKA (BUL) df. Ana PIRVU (ROU), 10-0

55kg
GOLD: Andreea ANA (ROU) df. Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA), 11-0

BRONZE: Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER) df. Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), via fall (8-11)
BRONZE: Roksana ZASINA (POL) df. Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN), 7-3

59kg
GOLD: Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) vs. Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR), 3-3

BRONZE: Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN) df. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Patrycja GIL (POL) df. Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU), via fall (7-2)

68kg
GOLD: Buse TOSUN (TUR) df. Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR), 5-2

BRONZE: Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) df. Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU), via fall
BRONZE: Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE) df. Khanum VELIEVA (AIN), via fall (8-8)

76kg
GOLD: Yasemin ADAR (TUR) df. Anastasiia SHUSTOVA (UKR), 12-1

BRONZE: Bernadett NAGY (HUN) df. Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA), 8-3
BRONZE: Enrica RINALDI (ITA) df. Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU), 5-2