#development

Cambodia hosts educational activities in lead up to Southeast Asian Championships

Monday, January 16, 2023 - 22:09 By United World Wrestling Press

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (December 20) -- In a move to strengthen wrestling in Southeast Asia, United World Wrestling (UWW) organized a series of educational activities in Phnom Penh, December 8-15 before the 2022 Southeast Asian Championships.

These activities included: a Training Camp, a Level 1 Coaches Course, an Introduction to Refereeing Course, Level 1 UWW Referee Course (obtain category III referee license), and a UWW Event Organization – IT course.

A total of 80 participants including athletes, coaches, referees and IT specialists took part in the events. The educators were Zach Errett (USA), Igor Ligay (KAZ), Vincent Aka (CIV/FRA) and Youssef Bouaziz (TUN). 

These courses were held with the support of the Olympic Solidarity, the Cambodia Olympic Committee and the Cambodian Wrestling Federation. “The 2022 Southeast Asian Wrestling Championship is the largest ever international senior wrestling tournament in Southeast Asia. The participating countries’ participation and preparation for this competition will help grow wrestling in the region for years to come," said Casey Barnett, VP of the Cambodian Wrestling Federation and SEA President. "It has been successful with the support of the amazing United World Wrestling development team and technical officials who conducted training to Southeast Asian federations prior to the competition. Before the competition, UWW trained dozens of referees, coaches, athletes and IT officials to provide critical human resources to grow the sport in our region.”

CAMParticipants from five nations attended the seven-day training camp. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Training Camp – 8-15 December 2022
A total of 40 participants from 5 countries took part in this training camp. Training sessions were led by UWW Educator, Vincent Aka (CIV/FRA). Training included learning new and different techniques, games, match conditioning, and discussions on the preparation for competitions. Also, during the camp, Komeil GHASEMI (IRI), a 2012 London Olympic champion, was able to show techniques and serve as a role model for the athletes. “It was a good camp!  The wrestlers were committed and willing to learn to improve their level.” said Mr. Vincent Aka.

CAM1Two Coaching Courses took place in Cambodia over three days. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Coaching Course – Level 1, 12-15 December 2022
This course is part of UWW’s educational program that paves the way towards improving coaching skillsets and facilitating delegates with tools to strengthen their professional work.

The Coaching Course Level 1 was divided into two sessions: theoretical and practical. The structure of this course was designed in a way that any lesson learned in the classroom was applied on the mat.  The main topics covered in the course were the implementation of discovery games, introducing new techniques, improving coaching skills, giving feedback, age group characteristics, Anti-Doping and athlete safeguarding. The course was conducted by UWW Education Manager, Zach Errett (USA).  “It was great working with coaches from the Southeast Asian region.  They worked very hard, and we saw them grow during the course.  It is exciting to see the direction they are headed in this region.” said Mr. Zach Errett

Introduction to Refereeing, 12-15 December 2022
The course was conducted by UWW Educator Igor Ligay (KAZ). Referees had theoretical sessions and practical sessions on the mat. They studied the evaluation of actions, referee mechanics, the start and end of matches, and referee positioning during the match. The participants also had an opportunity to practice their skills with simulation matches prior to the start of the competition. After the Introduction to Refereeing Course, all attendees took part in the 2022 SEA Championships and participated in the Level 1 UWW Referee Certification Course. This will allow them to become licensed UWW referees. “It was a very good course. In this group, all the participants were young and inexperienced.  However, they were eager to learn and improve.  This was a good course to have before the competition started,” said Mr. Igor Ligay.

CAM2Participants of the IT Course gather for a photo. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Event Organization – IT Course, 14-15 December 2022.
The IT course was conducted by UWW’s IT Specialist Youssef Bouaziz (TUN). A total of 8 participants from 6 countries participated in the course. The participants were provided a hands-on experience using different tools - Arena, UWW timing and LGTV software. The course consisted of theoretical and practical parts and had 3 main chapters.  First, how to create and manage competitions. Next, how to manage UWW timing. Lastly, how to stream and record an event. “I am very happy that this region has a good young generation that wants to improve the event level in their country. They were excited and asked many questions on how to improve. It was great to see them look to the future and how they will improve wrestling for their federations.” said Mr. Youssef Bouaziz

CAM3Wrestlers drill during one of the training session. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Words of Participants
“Training camp was a great opportunity to learn new techniques, and exchange experience between different athletes. We had a great time and hope to participate in such events in the future. I want to thank the Cambodian Wrestling Federation and United World Wrestling for this great opportunity to grow,” said Dorn Srors, a Cambodian female athlete.

"Learning is a lifelong process. Therefore, I am thrilled to be part of the United World Wrestling course on coaching. It was a great opportunity for me to learn and unlock new skills with other coaches from Southeast Asian regions," said Komeil Ghasemi, the Head Coach for Cambodia.

“I take this opportunity to share my big thanks with the organizing committee and all involved in this course for giving me a chance to witness the value/gratefulness of the Introduction to Refereeing course in Cambodia from December 12-19, which was conducted with the support of Olympic Solidarity and United World Wrestling. Without any doubts, this course helped me to enlighten my knowledge in referee duties which come in any forum and to face them with much more confidence than yesterday,” – said Piyumi Lakshika, a women's referee from Sri Lanka.

“The UWW IT Training Course by Mr Youssef Bouaziz was incredibly informative and interactive. This training has equipped me with lots of tangible and professional tools to leverage on and use in achieving excellent desired results. With the help of the practical sessions during the training, now I know how to utilize available resources to get ahead of any issues that may arise,” - Chen Weiming, Wrestling Federation of Singapore.

Cambodian Wrestling Federation is working very hard to develop wrestling in its country and the region.  UWW is committed to working alongside them in this journey to help them grow and strengthen the whole Southeast Asian region. This event had a record number of participants, and UWW is excited about the growth of wrestling in Southeast Asia.

#WrestleSamokov

Kyrgyzstan, Moldova earn chance to end U20 World title drought

Sunday, August 17, 2025 - 18:58 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 17) -- Kyrgyzstan and Moldova earned a chance to end their gold-medal drought at the U20 World Championships.

On the first day of the 2025 World U20 Championships in Samokov, four Freestyle weight classes were in action. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) was the surprised finalist at 74kg and will try to become Kyrgyzstan's first gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 20 years. He will take on European U23 champion Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) in the final.

At 70kg, Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) earned the final and will now try to become Moldova's first U20 world champ in Freestyle since 1999. He will take on returning bronze medalist PJ DUKE (USA) in the gold-medal bout.

The 125kg weight class will see an all-Asian final as Asian U20 champion Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) earned a shot for the world title against Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), a wrestler over whom Kassimbek has a 3-0 head-to-head record.

Two returning bronze medalists, Duke and Justin RADEMACHER (USA), upgrade their bronze medals from last year and earn themselves a chance to win gold on Monday at 70kg and 97kg respectively.

Akylbekov, who had finished at 17th at 79kg last year, had a dream run on Sunday and ended one for Raul CASO (ITA) in the semifinals. Caso had posted two last-second victories, however, he failed to repeat those heroics in the semifinal against Akylbekov.

Caso was 3-2 and went attack-mode in the final 15 seconds. He almost scored a takedown over Akylbekov who managed to sneak out and then Caso jumped over to take control for a takedown. However, the Kyrgyz wrestler stood up to avoid giving up any points. Italy challenged for two points but lost that on review, giving one more point to Akylbekov.

While Caso was leaving it late in his wins, Akylbekov was contrastingly dominating them. He defeated Nicholas HOOPER (CAN), 12-0, in the opening bout, blanked Titas PIJORAITIS (LTU), 10-0 and then handed Dosszhan KUL GAIYP (KAZ) a 6-1 loss.

Ismail KHANIEV (UWW)Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in the semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

He will now face Khaniev, who earned himself his first world medal at any level. Khaniev defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in a very close semifinal than the scoreline suggests.

Khaniev led 3-3 on criteria but Yamaguchi constantly threatened to score in the final 25 seconds. He hit a double-leg attack and planted Khaniev, who somehow managed to not land in danger. In a counter, Khaniev exposed Yamaguchi for two points and took a 5-3 lead. Yamaguchi tried a desperate throw in the final 15 seconds but Khaniev blocked it for two more points to win.

Earlier in the day, Khaniev avenged his European U20 Championships loss to Manuel WAGIN (GER) with a technical superiority win after he had beaten returning silver medalist Ladrion LOCKETT (USA).

Duke had his first big challenge of the day in the semifinals against former world U17 champion Erfan ELAHI (IRI) at 70kg. Duke scored a takedown while Elahi had a point for stepout and Duke's passivity. Duke's two-point scoring move gave him the criteria.

However, Elahi somehow thought he has the criteria and did not think of attacking in the final 30 seconds. When the bout was over, Elahi celebrated as if he had won only to realize that he has lost 2-2.

Duke will look to win his first a world title before wrestling at the senior World Championships later in September. He will take on Gaidarli for the gold-medal after the Moldovan won his semifinal 7-4 against Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE).

Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) reached the 70kg final in Samokov. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gaidarli became the first Moldovan Freestyle wrestler to reach the final at U20 Worlds since 2019 after a stunningly good run in Samokov. He defeated European U20 champion Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), 13-3, avenging his loss from Carole, Italy.

In the semifinals, he scored three takedowns in the second period against Aghazada to win 7-4, bettering his 18th-place finish from last year and earning a chance to end the gold-medal drought for Moldova.

Returning bronze medalist at 97kg Rademacher defeated European U20 champion Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinals and will now try to win gold. Rademacher led 4-3 at the break extended his lead with a takedown for two points to start the second period, add another go-behind and single-leg to takedown to lead 10-3.

Petriashvili got an attack for two points but Rademacher was relentless in his wrestling and scored three more takedowns to win 16-5.

Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW)Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) survived to win 11-9 against VISHAL (IND) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

For the gold medal, he will face Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) who survived, with some help, for an 11-9 win over VISHAL (IND) who had Magomedov in all sorts of trouble. Magomedov led 10-4 when Vishal mounted a comeback against an absolutely broken Magomedov. He scored a takedown and Magomedov was cautioned for a singlet-pull foul which made it 10-7.

As the bout was restart in par terre, India challenged for two more points but the referee had blown the whistle before control from Vishal. That challenge gave enough breathing time to Magomedov to managed to hang on to his lead and win 11-9.

Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) celebrates after winning his 125kg semifinal against Cole MIRASOLA (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Kassimbek had a very dominant semifinal as he defeated Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0, inside the first period. He had two excellent counter takedowns and then locked up Mirasola's legs around his head and turns him twice. He finished things with a double-leg takedown.

Kassimbek has lost to two World U17 Championships finals before but he will have a good chance to win his first world title. He will take on Mohammad Nezhad, a wrestler he has defeated three times before.

The Iranian denied former world U17 champion Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE) after a 1-1 victory in the semifinal. Mohmmad Nezhad got the one point for passivity in the second period which gave him the criteria.

Mohammad Nezhad lost to Kassimbek for the first time in 2023 Asian U17 Championships final, 8-1, then at the same tournament in 2024, 2-2 in the semifinals. His third loss to Kassimbek came in the semifinals of the 2024 World U17 Championships, 4-3.

RESULTS

70kg
GOLD: PJ DUKE (USA) vs. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) 

SF 1: Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) df. Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE), 7-4
SF 2: PJ DUKE (USA) df. Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI), 2-2

74kg
GOLD: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) vs. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ)

SF 1: Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) df. Raul CASO (ITA), 4-2
SF 2: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) df. Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3

97kg
GOLD: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) vs. Justin RADEMACHER (USA)

SF 1: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO), 16-5
SF 2: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. VISHAL (IND), 11-9

125kg
GOLD: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) vs. Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)

SF 1: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) df. Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), 1-1
SF 2: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) df. Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0