Egypt claims GR title despite Algeria fightback

Saturday, May 21, 2022 - 22:20 By Vinay Siwach

EL JADIDA, Morocco (May 21) -- Algeria's spirited fightback ended in heartbreak as Egypt claimed the Greco-Roman team title by two points.

Egypt had 205 points while Algeria finished with 203. Hosts Morocco finished third with 134 points despite not winning any gold.

Out of the 10 weights, Egypt and Algeria faced each other in five finals. The two nations were equal on team points in eight weight classes having claimed four gold, two silver and two bronze medals for 170 points.

Algeria claimed an extra gold than Egypt to lead by five points and yet lost due to an eight-point finish to Egypt's 15 at 77kg. Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY) defeated Tarek BENAISSA (ALG) 3-1 in the 77kg quarterfinal and as the Egypt wrestler lost his semifinal, Benaissa contributed only eight points while Abouelatta managed to win bronze for 15 points.

Emotions ran high between the two camps at the African Championships in El Jadida and the five head-to-head finals between Egypt and Algeria produced high-flying action. One such bout was the 60kg final which kept the fans on the edge of their seats.

Last year's African champion at 63kg Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG) stunned Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY) with a late takedown in the 60kg final. Trailing 8-8 on criteria, he got Baghdouda's back to the mat to get two points.

The bout began with the Egypt wrestler getting the par terre advantage. He scored four points from the position before Djebbari added a late point as the first period ended 5-1 for Baghdouda.

When Djebbari got the par terre position in the second period, he gave up a reversal and another two points. He managed to score two points for himself as well but trailed 8-4. He then added six answered points against a tiring Baghdouda to clinch the gold medal.

Algeria's other gold medals came at 63kg, 82kg, 87kg and 97kg.

Tokyo Olympian at 60kg Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) had little trouble winning his fourth African title as Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) had to contend with a second silver in three days. He lost the 63kg final 7-3. Fergat had finished 13th at the Olympics and has three continental titles at 55kg.

In two Algeria-Tunisia finals, 77kg defending champion Abd OUAKALI (ALG) moved up to 82kg this year and claimed his second African title by beating Hakim TRABELSI (TUN) 4-0 in the final.

Ouakali was once a promising wrestler for Algeria before a doping offense so saw getting banned from 2014 to 2018. He returned in 2019 and claimed the silver medal at the African Championships before winning the title in 2020.

Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) won his third African Championships title after a close 2-1 win over Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN) in the 87kg final.

Sid Azara, who finished 7th at the Tokyo Games, gained a 2-0 lead in the period. He gave up a passivity point in the second period but Missaoui could not take advantage from par terre.

Algeria's final gold came at 97kg, another weight class where the final saw wrestler from Algeria and Eygpt. Two-time Olympian Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) overcame Mohamed GABR (EGY), 5-1, in a repeat of the '19 African final. The win propelled Algeria to the team title. The 97kg gold was the was Boudjemline's fifth African title.

Egypt had its fair share of success in such finals beginning with 55kg.

Abdalla SHAABAN (EGY) claimed two gold medals in three days. He won the U20 title Thursday and added the senior title Saturday after remaining undefeated in the five-man bracket. His toughest competitor was the U20 African champion and another young star Mohamed DRIDI (ALG) but he won the Round 3 bout 1-1.

Abdelrahman OMAR (EGY), 19, scored five points in the first period and managed to comfortably beat Ishak GHAIOU (ALG) for the 67kg title. Ghaiou finished with a silver medal for a second straight year at 67kg. In 2020, Mohammed EL SAYED (EGY) ended his hopes of becoming the African champion and now it was a young star from the country.

Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) dropped to 72kg from 77kg and claimed his first African title after beating Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN) in a frantic final. The two went off from the start and scored six points each in the first period. Tarhouni attacked first and the sequence resulted in two points for each wrestler. But at the break, Tarhouni led 6-6 on criteria as he hit a four-pointer. Khalil got a point for reversal and later added a takedown before the break. The second period saw only one action in which Khalil banked on a four-point move and scored as well which gave him the win.

At 130kg, Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) once again defeated Amine GUENNICHI (TUN) to win the 130kg title. For the last three years, the Tokyo Olympians have developed a rivalry but Guennichi is yet to win a bout over Mohamed.

He came close Saturday after getting a roll from par terre to lead 3-1 at the break in the Round 1 bout. But Mohamed scored three points in the second period, including one for Guennichi's passivity, to win 4-3.

Both wrestlers had no trouble winning their remaining matches as Mohamed, a former U23 World medalist, won the gold while the Tunisian finished with silver.

The lone gold medal which did not go to either Algeria or Egypt was the 77kg gold. Tunisia's Olympic representative in Tokyo Lamjed MAAFI (TUN) won the gold medal at 77kg after thrashing Aziz BOUALEM (MAR) 10-0 in the final. He had earlier defeated Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY) in the semifinal.

Abouelatta, a U20 Worlds fifth-placer, could not match Maafi's strength. Maafi scored a takedown in the first 10 seconds of the bout and added three points from stepouts to claim a 5-1 in the semifinal.

The African Championships will see freestyle action in all 10 weight classes Sunday.

GR Results

55kg
GOLD: Abdalla SHAABAN (EGY)
SILVER: Mohamed DRIDI (ALG)
BRONZE: Rabby KILANDI (COD)

Key match: Abdalla SHAABAN (EGY) df. Mohamed DRIDI (ALG), 1-1 (Round 3)

60kg
GOLD: Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG) df. Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY), 10-8

BRONZE: Salim HAMDI (TUN) df. Aymane LAKHFIF (MAR), 8-0

63kg
GOLD: Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) df. Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), 7-3

BRONZE: Fouad FAJARI (MAR) df. Hamed TCHOUFON (RSA), 9-0

67kg
GOLD: Abdelrahman OMAR (EGY) df. Ishak GHAIOU (ALG), 6-1

BRONZE: Bilal EL BAHJA (MAR) df. Jason AFRIKANER(NAM), 10-1

72kg
GOLD: Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) df. Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN), 10-6

BRONZE: Khalid AMAGHDOUR (MAR) df. Reangan NDOMBASI (COD), 4-0
BRONZE: Walid GHAIOU (ALG) df. Shafaihuuna BENHARD (NAM), 5-1

77kg
GOLD: Lamjed MAAFI (TUN) df. Aziz BOUALEM (MAR), 10-0

BRONZE: Jean ATONGUI (CGO) df. Brian OLOO (KEN), 8-0
BRONZE: Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY) df. Redy MUPOMPA (COD), 8-0

82kg
GOLD: Abd OUAKALI (ALG) df. Hakim TRABELSI (TUN), 4-0

BRONZE: Fares GHALY (EGY) df. Mohamed FAIQ (MAR), 8-0

87kg
GOLD: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) df. Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN), 2-1

BRONZE: Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD) df. Edward LESSING (RSA), 10-7
BRONZE: Noureldin HASSAN (EGY) df. Guma BASHIR (SUD), 10-0

97kg
GOLD: Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) df Mohamed GABR (EGY), 5-1

BRONZE: Oussama ASSAD (MAR) df. Aron MBO (COD), 16-12

130kg
GOLD: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
SILVER: Amine GUENNICHI (TUN)
BRONZE: Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG)

Key match: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) df. Amine GUENNICHI (TUN), 4-3 (Round 1)

#wrestlebishkek

Susaki 2.0 Ready to Rumble at Asian Championships

Saturday, March 28, 2026 - 07:14 By Vinay Siwach

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (March 27) -- In what has become a lasting photo of wrestling from the 2024 Paris Olympics, a wide-eyed Yui SUSAKI (JPN) is seen staring blankly into nothing.

The photo was taken after Susaki suffered her first-ever international loss. Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) had just defeated her in the opening round of the Paris Games. It was not a familiar feeling for Susaki. Not in international wrestling at least.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) lost her first bout at the Paris Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

It was only after she walked off the mat and faced the cameras waiting for her in the field of play mixed zone that Susaki realized what had happened. She burst into tears.

Almost two years after that after that loss, a 'new' Susaki is returning to action at next week's Asian Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in a bid to re-establish herself as the dominant force she was before Paris.

"The defeat at the Paris Olympics and the year-and-a-half that followed were an incredibly difficult and painful time," Susaki says.

Susaki went on to win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, a downgrade from the gold medal she won in Tokyo where she outscored her opponents 41-0. The loss shocked the world as Susaki was considered unbeatable. She was a three-time world champion boasting of a 96-0 winning streak, never lost an international bout and was the first wrestler to win the Golden Grand Slam, winning the Olympic gold and all age-group world titles including senior.

A second Olympic title seemed inevitable. There was no stopping.

While the loss was on the mat, Susaki believes that things off the mat may have contributed to her loss as well.

"In recent years, my desire to give back and do things for those around me had grown stronger," she says. "My focus had shifted toward others. When my focus is on others, I feel pressure, my mind gets cluttered with distractions, and doubts arise, leading me to overthink things."

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) celebrates after winning the world title in 2023. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

She is relieved that she did not overthink the loss in Paris after she returned to Japan.

"There were moments when I lost faith in myself [after that Paris loss]," she says. "But since then, I’ve focused more than ever on self-reflection and self-dialogue in my personal life, as well as on developing my character as a person. I’ve gained a deeper understanding of myself, and I feel I’ve developed a firm sense of self."

The version that Susaki has been working on over the last year did not begin just after the Olympics. There was one more bump before she made an important career decision.

Susaki was finding it incredibly difficult to reduce weight to continue wrestling at 50kg. So in September 2025, she decided to wrestle at 53kg at the National Sports Festival in Japan. It did not go as planned.

She suffered her first domestic loss in six years when world champion Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) defeated her at the festival. What was more alarming was that Susaki failed to finish a takedown in the final minute despite getting control over Kiyooka.

The 26-year-old returned to the drawing board with a sense of urgency as the Emperor's Cup was looming. The 2025 December tournament was the first step towards making the Japan team for the 2026 Asian Championships, World Championships and the Asian Games.

"The answer I arrived at after overcoming it all was simple: I wrestle because I love it and because I want to become an Olympic champion," she said. "I wrestle not for anyone else, but for myself -- to make my dream come true."

Susaki, along with her team, devised a better plan to reduce weight and remain at 50kg. She ate precise and molded her training in a way in which she managed to contain the weight.

In December, she won the Emperor's Cup at 50kg without much trouble and earn a spot on the Japan team for the Asian Championships which only be her third in her 12-year international career.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN) defeated Ziqi FENG (CHN) in the 50kg final at the Asian Championships in 2024. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Incidentally, her last Asian Championships was also in Bishkek in 2024, and she won gold after beating Ziqi FENG (CHN) in the final. She is likely to face Feng again as the Paris Olympic bronze medalist is among a strong field at 50kg this year.

One of the challenges that Susaki will be keen on taking on is a bout against Son Hyang KIM (PRK), a wrestler Susaki has beaten before. The two met in the 48kg final of the 2017 Asian Championships, Susaki's first, and the Japanese wrestler won 10-0.

Then in the same year, the two met at the World Championships and Kim managed to keep it tighter but failed to stop Susaki from winning, 5-2. Susaki went on to win her first senior world title.

While the matches against formidable opponents are something she is looking forward to, Susaki is more excited to return to an international tournament after a break and kick start her new Olympic cycle.

"I’m incredibly excited to be competing in a UWW international tournament for the first time in a year and eight months," she said. "I want to win this tournament to get off to a strong start, so that I can compete in the Los Angeles Olympics and reclaim the gold medal. I also want wrestling fans to see how much stronger Yui Susaki has become.

"I think you’ll get to see a whole new Yui Susaki!"

Egypt claims GR title despite Algeria fightback

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Susaki 2.0 Ready to Rumble at Asian Championships