India wrestling, china, india, china wrestling, Women's Wrestling

China Finds Double Gold on First Day of Women's Wrestling, Japan Boxed Out

By Tim Foley

China Strikes Double Gold

China’s Yumei CHEN kicked off the women’s gold medal finals with a commanding 14-4 technical fall victory over Sonu SONU of India. The Chinese grappler ceded a four-point takedown early in the 44kg finals, but returned fire with a takedown of her own and three gut wrenches to make it a 10-4 match into the break.

Chen closed out the match early in the second period winning by technical fall, 14-4

At 59kg Jing JIANG made Chian’s second final appearance making quick work of Thi My Hanh NGUYEN (VIE). The stout Chinese competitor shot a head inside single, lifted and converted a takedown early in the first before finding four gut wrenches to win the match by technical fall, 12-1.

India and Kyrgyzstan Golden as Japanese Falter

Japan is the most dominant force in women’s wrestling, but with their top athletes competing at the Meiji Cup in Tokyo the team was not up to their usual golden ways.

Chisaki HORI did manage to find her way into the 51kg finals where she faced India’s Pooja GEHLOT (IND). The duo excited the crowd with a flurry of attacks and crafty defense, but it was all Gehlot as time expired with the Indian winning a narrow 6-5 victory.

In the 67kg finals Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) took almost a dozen low leg singles but was continually thwarted by the trick knee of the ultra-flexible Bakhtigul BALTANIYAZOVA (UZB). Despite the tough defense Zhumanazarova found two takedowns in the first period before cracking the match wide open in the second with a powerful double leg and crotch lift made it 8-0. A final hi crotch gave the Uzbek a 10-0 technical fall victory and gold medal.

Iran Caps Team Title in Greco-Roman with Pair of Titles

They weren’t beautiful matches, but Poya Soulat DAD MARZ and Amirmohammad HAJIPOURGANJI (IRI) pushed and pulled their way to a pair of gold medals Thursday night in Taichung, Taiwan.

For his part, Poya Soulat DAD MARZ (IRI) took out Alpamys DASTANBEK (KAZ) in the 50kg with an anti-climactic 2-1 decision. Iranian big man Amirmohammad HAJIPOURGANJI (IRI) then followed with a chippy 6-3 decision against Satish SATISH (IND).

The final team scores for Greco-Roman were Iran 71, Kazakhstan 58 and India 55.

Development

UWW Training PE Teachers at ISF Gymasiade in Bahrain

By United World Wrestling Press

Bahrain (December 2) – United World Wrestling partnered with the International School Sports Federation (ISF) to train PE teachers at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. The ISF Gymnasiade event took place from 23-31 October. This annual event involves competitions for sport school athletes over 26 sports. Wrestling has been a part of this event in each edition. During the Gymnasiade, ISF also provides training to local PE teachers to potentially implement more sports within their curriculum.

UWW was fortunate to be able to provide training sessions to the PE teachers on using the Wrestle4Fun curriculum. The training was led by UWW Educators Ahmed Khedhri (TUN) and Rafael Galva (PUR).

The training was held on 25 October and included 51 participants. The training included 2-hour theoretical and 2-hour practical sessions, with participants actively participating in Wrestle4Fun activities. These activities provided the participants with the advantages of adding wrestling to physical education. “Collaborating with PE teachers provided a very valuable experience. I hope this experience will become more common, allowing wrestling to be part of the physical education curriculum,” said Mr. Khedhri.

Mr. Galva also participated in the ISF International Educational Forum. During the forum, Mr. Galva discussed Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle to School Kids. He also spoke about the importance of positive role modeling from parents and coaches. 

ISFParticipants go through the Fun and Skills Zone at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Mr. Galva and Mr. Khedhri also conducted sessions at the Fun and Skills Zone throughout the event. This was a chance for young athletes to try wrestling games and activities. This included athletes from many different sports and countries.

The wrestling competition was held on October 28-30 and included participation in all three styles. The competition had 321 athletes from 18 countries participating. 

Wrestle4Fun is developmentally appropriate for all age levels and designed to support girls’ and boys’ physical literacy journeys. It has five stages based on different developmental levels. Each stage has 15 lessons. In total, there are 75 lessons with over 200 games and activities. The entire Wrestle4Fun programme can be found on the Academy platform.

The UWW Academy can be found at https://academy.uww.org/.