#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series 2026 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 30) -- The fourth and final stop in the Ranking Series will be held in Budapest, Hungary from July 15 to 19.

The Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial tournament will be held at the BOK Sports Hall with Freestyle kicking off action. Women's Wrestling will be held after Freestyle before Greco-Roman finishes things off things of the five-day tournament.

All the matches, highlights and live action from Budapest will be available on UWW+ on uww.org.

Note: The entries are subject to change until 72 hours before the start of the respective style.

UWW+

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (BLR)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Timothy LEVINE (CAN)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Rassoul GALBOURAEV (FRA)
Nikoloz BOTCHORISHVILI (GEO)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Balazs RACZ (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
RAHUL (IND)
Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Anthony KNOX (USA)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Maximilian LEETE BENZAN (DOM)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Ramaz TURMANIDZE (GEO)
DEEPAK (IND)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)

65kg
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Magomedkhan MAGAMEDKHANOV (BLR)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Matias MUNOZ (CHI)
Xuexian OU (CHN)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Mohit KUMAR (IND)
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI)
Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)
Adil OSPANOV (KAZ)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Ossimzhan DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Beau BARTLETT (USA)

70kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Marton VARGA (HUN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI)
Maiis ALIYEV (KAZ)
Olzhas OLZHAKANOV (KAZ)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR)
Alec PANTALEO (USA)
Ridge LOVETT (USA)

74kg
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Feng LU (CHN)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Benjamin DOBLER (HUN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND)
Darkhan YESSENGALI (KAZ)
Kuandyk SHALDAR (KAZ)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Sangho HAN (KOR)
Ebierelayefa ANDREW (NGR)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Cuneyt BUDAK (TUR)
Muhammed BESIR (TUR)
William LEWAN (USA)
Farhad NOURI (UWW)

79kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Sandeep MANN (IND)
Nurdaulet KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
Shamsat TAIR (KAZ)
Yerkhan ABIL (KAZ)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)

86kg
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Franco GONZALEZ (CHI)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Christopher FOCA (DOM)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
AMIT (IND)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Abylaikhan UZEMBAYEV (KAZ)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Rustem MYRZAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Alperen ATAR (TUR)

92kg
Jorge LLANO (ARG)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Zaur BERADZE (GEO)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
Zeteny GANGL (HUN)
Punit KUMAR (IND)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Bekzat AMANGALI (KAZ)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Anton VYHIVSKYI (SVK)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Dustin PLOTT (USA)
Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI (BLR)
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Matias URIBE SEPULVEDA (CHI)
Junpeng ZHOU (CHN)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Rifat Eren GIDAK (TUR)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Vasyl SOVA (UKR)
Jacob CARDENAS (USA)

125kg
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Milan GELLEN (HUN)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
DINESH (IND)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Nursultan AZOV (KAZ)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Omar Ihab SAREM (ROU)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR)
Demetrius THOMAS (USA)
Mason PARRIS (USA)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)

Musa EVLOEV (RUS)Musa EVLOEV (RUS) is looking to return to international wrestling after five years. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Dogukan Karadag)

Greco-Roman

55kg
LALIT (IND)
Alpamys DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Alibek AMIROV (RUS)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)
Max NOWRY (USA)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
Augusto VARGAS (CHI)
BAOYINJIYA (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Mahmoud SAAD (EGY)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Abdolmohammad PAPI (GER)
CHETAN (IND)
SUMIT (IND)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS)
Sadyk LALAEV (RUS)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Jace KOELZER (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)
Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

63kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Sakit GULIYEV (AZE)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Sergey EMELIN (RUS)
Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Xavier JOHNSON (USA)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

67kg
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)
Mahammad SHUKURZADE (AZE)
Dongyu LI (CHN)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Christopher KRAEMER (GER)
DEEPAK (IND)
Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Din Mukhamed KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Daniial AGAEV (RUS)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (RUS)
Ruslan BICHURIN (RUS)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Otto Elliot BLACK (USA)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
Sardor YULDASHEV (UZB)

72kg
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Mishiko ALEKSANDRIA (GEO)
Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
ANIL (IND)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Rabil ASKEROV (RUS)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Brett BACK (USA)
Ahmad KODIROV (UZB)
Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB)

77kg
Eduardo BERNAL MOLINA (CHI)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Wenhao HU (CHN)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Alibek BERDIEV (KGZ)
Kyeongbin LEE (KOR)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Danil GRIGOREV (RUS)
Ismail BARAKHOEV (RUS)
Sergei KUTUZOV (RUS)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Joel ADAMS (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)
Jamol JUMABAEV (UZB)

82kg
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
PRINCE (IND)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (RUS)
Gamzat GADZHIEV (RUS)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Ognjen JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Jesse PORTER (USA)
Azimjon SOATULLAEV (UZB)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

87kg
Likui SHI (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Mohamed DYAB (EGY)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Rohit BURA (IND)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Timur OSPANOV (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Islam ALIEV (RUS)
Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS)
Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Zegang WANG (CHN)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Luka GABISONIA (GEO)
Darius KIEFER (GER)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Ilia ERMOLENKO (RUS)
Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
Branko DUKIC (SRB)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Timothy YOUNG (USA)

130kg
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
DEEPANSHU (IND)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Nurbolot TOKTOGONOV (KGZ)
Marat KAMPAROV (RUS)
Sergei SEMENOV (RUS)
Fatih BOZKURT (TUR)
Adam COON (USA)
Aden ATTAO (USA)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Javokhir SHODIYAROV (UZB)
Rafael TSITSUASHVILI (UZB)

Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) is entered at 59kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Thalia OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Katie DUTCHAK (CAN)
Kaura COLES (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Laura FATH (HUN)
DIPANSHI (IND)
Priyanshi PRAJAPAT (IND)
Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)
Agata GOLUCHOWSKA (POL)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Samara CHAVEZ (USA)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)

53kg
Adrianny CASTILLO (ARG)
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Antonia VALDES (CHI)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
Bianka FATH (HUN)
ANTIM (IND)
MEENAKSHI (IND)
NISHU (IND)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Natia SVANIDZE (RUS)
Ivana GAJIC (SRB)
Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)
Sydney PETZINGER (USA)

55kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Ainur ASHIMOVA (KAZ)
Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)

57kg
Camila AMARILLA (ARG)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Valeryia MIKITSICH (BLR)
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Kexin HONG (CHN)
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Neha SHARMA (IND)
TAPSYA (IND)
Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Jumoke ADEKOYE (NGR)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Tindra DALMYR (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)

59kg
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
NEHA (IND)
Guldana BEKESH (KAZ)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Abigail NETTE (USA)
Alexis JANIAK (USA)

62kg
Veranika IVANOVA (BLR)
Lais NUNES (BRA)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Yaru WU (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
MANSI (IND)
SAVITA (IND)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Alicja WOJEWODZKA (POL)
Amina TANDELOVA (RUS)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

65kg
Sofia VEMBA (ANG)
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI)
PULKIT (IND)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Agnes NYGREN (SWE)
Jennifer PAGE ROGERS (USA)

68kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Alina SHAUCHUK (BLR)
Ella DOORNAERT (CAN)
Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Zelu LI (CHN)
Laura KOEHLER (GER)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
NISHA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (RUS)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (RUS)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)

72kg
Diksha MALIK (IND)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)

76kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR)
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Shuiyan CHENG (CHN)
Wenji LI (CHN)
Genesis REASCO (ECU)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
KAJAL (IND)
PRIYA (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Eunju HWANG (KOR)
Damola OJO (NGR)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Tristan KELLY (USA)

#WrestleBudapest

Losonczi annihilates 87kg field to book Belgrade spot

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 16) -- By Ranking Series standards, the celebrations by David LOSONCZI (HUN) after winning the 87kg final was a little overboard.

Winning a gold medal at home deserved a celebration and Losonczi did not sober down. He backflipped after making a mockery of Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) in the final.

Losonczi would later explain that by winning the gold medal at the Budapest Ranking Series on Sunday, he confirmed his spot on the Hungary team for the World Championships in the 87kg weight class.

He was one of the two Hungary wrestlers to confirm the spot with Tamas LEVAI (HUN) also booking a spot by winning the 97kg gold medal at home.

Out of the seven Greco-Roman weight classes in action on Sunday in Budapest, five were Olympic weights. Apart from 87kg and 97kg, wrestlers at 67kg, 77kg and 130kg categories were also in action.

Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) won the 67kg gold medal and compatriot Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) won the gold medal at 77kg. Iran's Amir GHASEMI (IRI) won the gold medal at 130kg.

Losonczi's win was one of the highlights of the tournament as he scored 41 points in five bouts while not giving up a single point. He won four of his five bouts, including the final, via technical superiority.

Wrestling Novikov in the final, Losonczi scored a takedown 30 seconds into the bout. A stepout made it 3-0 and a failed front headlock-to-throw attempt from Novikov added two more points to his score.

With a 5-0 lead, Losonczi remained relentless and continued his attacks. Novikov seemed to be figuring out what was going on in the bout when Losonczi scored another stepout to lead 6-0 in a minute and 33 seconds.

The referee called Novikov for inactivity and Losonczi got a point and par terre advantage. All he had to do to win the match was turn Novikov for two points. Losonczi got a roll from par terre with ease and jumped around celebrating the win.

In his earlier bouts, Losonczi had beaten Sanghyeok PARK (KOR) and Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) 9-0, Fei PENG (CHN), 8-0, in the quarterfinal, and Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) 6-0 in the semifinal.

Levai too broke out in a small dance after he defeated Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) to win the gold medal at 97kg.

The 24-year-old won the U23 World Championships in 2021 at 77kg and has been jumping weight classes since. He won bronze medals at the 2022 World and European Championships at 82kg and debuted at 97kg at the 2023 Zagreb Open.

At the European Championships in Zagreb in April, Levai competed at 97kg and finished seventh. However, gold in Budapest has made him a dark horse at this weight class.

In front of his home crowd, Levai defeated Mathias BAK (DEN) 5-0 in his opening bout and won 4-1 against Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO) to move into the quarterfinals in which he defeated Seyeol LEE (KOR) 8-0. Daniel GASTL (AUT) was the next to fall as Levai won the semifinal 7-1.

Kakhelashvili got the first par terre advantage but he failed to score any points from there. Just before the break, Kakhelashvili was penalized for blocking Levai's face with open hands. Levai went into the break leading 2-1.

The lead extended to 3-1 when Kakhelashvili was called passive but Levai failed to inflict further damage.

However, the gold was enough for Levai to book a spot for the World Championships where he will hope to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At 67kg, Jafarov was at his absolute best and won the gold medal, putting behind his 20th-place finish at the Zagreb Open in February.

The bronze medalist from the 2022 World Championships, defeated Din KOSHKAR (KAZ) 12-3 before a 3-1 win over Mihai MIHUT (ROU) helped him reach the semifinal against Hansu RYU (KOR).

A reverse lift for four after par terre and solid defense, when he was put in par terre, helped him beat Ryu 5-1 and book his place in the final against Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO).

Jafarov had no trouble in beating Khetsuriani 6-1 in the final to win the gold medal.

“I prepared a lot for this tournament because the World Championships is approaching and we need to prepare for it,” Jafarov said. “This tournament is perfect to prepare for the World Championships which will offer the Paris Olympics quotas.”

While he was satisfied with his performance, Jafarov thought he could have added more attacks during his bouts.

“I would have liked to attack more in this tournament but I was a little tired here. But I'll be better at the World Championships,” he said.

The former U20 and U23 world champion was wearing a new “buzzcut” and had a heavily strapped neck and shoulder. He, however, said that there was nothing to worry about. 

“No injuries,” he said. “This is my new [hair] style. I have a new haircut because I was outside Baku so I thought I can change a little.”

RESULTS

67kg
GOLD: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO), 6-1

BRONZE: Hansu RYU (KOR) df. Mihai MIHUT (ROU), 4-1
BRONZE: Lei LI (CHN) df. Alejandro SANCHO (USA), 1-1

72kg
GOLD: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) df. Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE), via inj. def. 

BRONZE: Otar ABULADZE (GEO) df. Levente LEVAI (HUN), 8-3
BRONZE: Selcuk CAN (TUR) df. Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ), 6-1

77kg
GOLD: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) df. Kamal BEY (USA), 4-1

BRONZE: Mohammad NAGHOUSI (IRI) df. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN), 1-1
BRONZE: Iuri LOMADZE (GEO) df. Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN), 7-0

82kg
GOLD: Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Mihail BRADU (MDA), 3-1

BRONZE: Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) df. Spencer WOODS (USA), via fall
BRONZE: Kristoffer BERG (SWE) df. Peter DOEMOEK (HUN), 7-1

87kg
GOLD: David LOSONCZI (HUN) df. Semen NOVIKOV (BUL), 9-0

BRONZE: Alex KESSIDIS (SWE) df. Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), 3-1
BRONZE: Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 3-2

97kg
GOLD: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA), 3-1

BRONZE: Daniel GASTL (AUT) df. Mathias BAK (DEN), 6-1
BRONZE: Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) df. Felix BALDAUF (NOR), 6-1

130kg
GOLD: Amir GHASEMI (IRI) df. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE), 3-1

BRONZE: Elias KUOSMANEN (FIN) df. Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN), 2-0
BRONZE: Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI) df. Dariusz VITEK (HUN), 3-0