Egypt dominates GR, Nigeria shines in WW at African Championships

Monday, March 18, 2024 - 20:10 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 18) -- Led by world bronze medalist Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) and U20 world champion Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), Egypt produced a stunning performance at the African Championships, winning nine Greco-Roman gold medals in Alexandria.

In Women's Wrestling, Nigeria won four gold medals out of the five weight classes contested on Monday in Alexandria.

The nine golds helped Egypt win the Greco-Roman team title in front of the home crowd with 240 points. Algeria was second with 184 points and Tunisia finished third with 95 points.

Mohamed wrestled three matches in a Nelson bracket and won all three without surrendering a point. He defeated Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG), who later finished with a silver, 8-0 and Ahmed SEREHALI (MAR) 8-0. His final was against Brahim MALKI (TUN) who forfeited.

Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) won the gold medal 67kg in Greco-Roman. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Alameldin was even better as he won three of the four bouts via technical superiority while one was a walkover for the U20 world champion. In his first bout, he Souhaib KHDAR (MAR) 8-0 followed by a 9-0 win over Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG) and 10-0 blanking of Sahid KARGBO (SLE).

Top seed Alameldin finished all his bouts well before regulation time. His first win, over Khdar, came in just 24 seconds.

At 60kg, Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) defeated youngster Mohamed DRIDI (ALG), 8-1, in the final. He scored a stepout and later got a throw from par terre to get four points and led 6-0 at the break.

Dridi failed to score any points from par terre in the second period. Mahmoud got a front headlock and threw Dridi which was scored four points. Algeria challenged the call and it was scored only two points. However, Mahmoud still had enough to win the gold medal 8-1. In their Round 3 match, Mahmoud had blanked Dridi 8-0.

Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) launches Shafaihuuna Benhard (NAM) for a big throw. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) won the gold medal at 77kg but did not have a smooth sailing. In his four bouts, Khalil dominated three while the one against Chawki DOULACHE (ALG) was a close contest.

The two met in Round 2 and the winner was most likely to win the gold medal. Khalil was called passive in the first period giving Doulache a 1-0 lead. But Khalil got the 1-1 criteria lead in the second period after Doulache was called passive. Both of them failed to score any action points but Khalil was the important win over Doulache to win the gold medal.

While Noureldin HASSAN (EGY) did not keep a clean sheet, he won the 87kg gold medal with four technical superiority wins in four bouts. Hassan did not face any real challenge from his opponents and only Haithem ISSAD (ALG) scored any points on Hassan.

In the Round 5 bout, Issad hit an arm throw and scored two points over Hassan. But that was all from Issad as Hassan dominated the bout from there and won 10-2.

The silver medal went to Roberto NSANGUA (ANG) who became the first wrestler from Angola to win silver at the African Championships. His only loss at the tournament was against Hassan.

At 97kg, Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY) won the gold medal after four wins. He was barely tested in his bouts apart from one against Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR) who had built a 3-0 lead at the break. He even defended well from par terre and did not give any points.

Abouelatta remained relentless in his attacks and after a failed front headlock attempt, he quickly moved behind Kouainso and hit a big throw for four points that gave him the 5-3 win.

Shaaban ABDELLATIF (EGY) won the gold medal at 55kg while Adham ELSAYED (EGY) won the gold medal at 63kg after Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG) pulled out of the final due to injury. The 82kg gold medal was captured by Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY).

72kg was the only weight in which Egypt did not win a gold medal as Emad GHALY (EGY) fell to Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG), 9-0, in the semifinals. Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN) then defeated Merabet in the final 5-1 to win the gold while Ghaly captured the bronze medal.

Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) won the 57kg gold without giving up a single point. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Nigeria shines

World bronze medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) began the season with gold medals at the African Championships as Nigeria dominated Women's Wrestling.

Five weight classes were on the mat on Monday and Nigeria won four gold medals. Apart from Adekuoroye and Oborududu, Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) won at 53kg and Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) won at 62kg.

Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) denied Nigeria a clean sweep as she defeated Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) 12-2 in the 76kg gold medal bout.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Shaaban ABDELLATIF (EGY)
SILVER: Sefiane GUEZZANIA (ALG)
BRONZE: Bofenda KALUWEKO (ANG)

60kg
GOLD: Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Mohamed DRIDI (ALG), 8-1

BRONZE: Latuf MADI (COM) df. Given SIKHOSANA (RSA), via inj. def.

63kg
GOLD: Adham ELSAYED (EGY) df. Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Romio GOLIATH (NAM) df. Mouad JAHID (MAR), 16-11

67kg
GOLD: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
SILVER: Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG)
BRONZE: Sahid KARGBO (SLE)

72kg
GOLD: Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN) df. Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG), 5-1

BRONZE: Emad GHALY (EGY) df. Anthony WESLEY (CPV), via fall (17-8)

77kg
GOLD: Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
SILVER: Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
BRONZE: Francisco KADIMA (ANG)

82kg
GOLD: Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY)
SILVER: Amar MOUMENE (ALG)
BRONZE: Belhasan AZAOUZI (TUN)

87kg
GOLD: Noureldin HASSAN (EGY)
SILVER: Roberto NSANGUA (ANG)
BRONZE: Hakim TRABELSI (TUN)

97kg
GOLD: Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
SILVER: Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN)
BRONZE: Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR)

130kg
GOLD: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
SILVER: Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG)
BRONZE: Ahmed SEREHALI (MAR)

Women's Wrestling

53kg
GOLD: Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) df. Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 10-0

BRONZE: Nogona BAKAYOKO (CIV) df. Miriam NGOE WASE (CMR), 10-0
BRONZE: Hadir AHMED (EGY) df. Elisa RASOANANTENAINA (MAD), 4-0

57kg
GOLD: Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG), via fall

BRONZE: Shaimaa ABDELZAHER (EGY) df. Natacha NABAINA (CMR), 10-0
BRONZE: Faten HAMMAMI (TUN) df. Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR), via fall

62kg
GOLD: Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) df. Farah HUSSEIN (EGY), 11-0

BRONZE: Minette KRUGER (RSA) df. Eunice MBURU (KEN), 2-0
BRONZE: Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG) df. Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI), via fall (8-6)

68kg
GOLD: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) df. Menatalla BADRAN (EGY), 13-2

BRONZE: Nour JELJELI (TUN) df. Blandine NGIRI (CMR), 8-2

76kg
GOLD: Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) df. Hannah RUEBEN (NGR), 12-2

BRONZE: Amy YOUIN (CIV) df. Pelagie WILITA (CMR), 6-4

#WrestleAlexandria

Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series: World champs highlight strong WW field

Friday, February 17, 2023 - 15:44 By Taylor GREGORIO

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 17) -- The second Ranking Series event, the Ibrahim Moustafa, is days away. The event will take place February 23-26 in Alexandria, Egypt.

The results will not only give ranking points to the wrestlers, but they will also be crucial in determining the four seeds for the upcoming continental championships. Ibrahim Moustafa will be the second event in which UWW will award prize money and a two-kilogram weight tolerance will be allowed in each weight class.

Like in Zagreb, this event will also feature a strong women's field with 133 wrestlers including nine world champions and 34 World Championships medalists.

All the action from Egypt starts next Thursday and can be followed live on uww.org or on the UWW app.

Below are five storylines to keep an eye on next weekend.

Parrish, Nichita among 2022 world medalists competing

Alexandria will welcome eight 2022 World medalists, counting two gold medalists, two silver medalists and four bronze medalists.

Highlighting this group are world champions Domnique PARRISH (USA) and Anastasia NICHITA (MDA). Competing at 53kg, Parrish secured the title on her senior World Championships debut in September. That same week, Nichita became just the second Moldovan woman to win a senior world title, when she topped the 59kg podium.

A pair of reigning silver medalists, Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and Grace BULLEN (NOR), will wrestle in the same bracket next week. Miracle is a two-time runner-up, securing silver at 62kg in 2021 and 2022. Bullen, who won her first senior medal last year at 59kg, has decided to bump up to 62kg.

The host country will cheer for Samar HAMZA (EGY) as the 2022 silver medalist is entered at 76kg and will be one of the favorites to claim the gold at home.

The 2022 bronze medalists expected to compete are Mengyu XIE (CHN) at 55kg, Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR) at 62kg and Epp MAE (EST) at 76kg

Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) is the only two-time world champion in the field. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Nine past world champions in the field

Nine women head into Alexandria with gold hardware to their names. Two weight classes 59kg and 62kg -- feature multiple world champs.

Wrestling at 59kg is 2022 champion Anastasia Nichita and 2014 winner Yuliia TKACH (UKR), while the 62 kg competitors include two-time world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), 2021 champion at 59kg Bilyana Dudova and 2018 champion Taybe YUSEIN (BUL).

In addition to Nichita, there is one other reigning gold medalist, Dom Parrish, who will compete at 53kg. The other three are 2019 champion Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA), 2018 champion Ningning RONG (CHN) and 2021 champion Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ). Winchester will wrestle at 55kg with Rong at 57kg and Zhumanazarova at 68kg.

Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) is one of the three world champions at 62kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

World champs highlight stacked 62kg bracket

The 62kg weight class has a ton of star power coming into the second Ranking Series event with three past world champions and six other past world medalists. Aisuluu Aisuluu is the only two-time world champion in the entire women’s field. She earned titles in 2019 and 2021. Also winning a world gold in 2021 was Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL), who claimed her title at 59kg. She will be competing at 62kg next week. The final world champ in this weight is 2018 winner Taybe Yusein. All three world champs also have other medal-winning performances, and between the three of them, they combine for four golds, four silvers, three bronzes and two Olympic medals.

Other medalists registered include silver medalists Kayla Miracle, who has earned two, Jia LONG (CHN), Grace Bullen and Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) and bronze winners Xiaojuan LUO (CHN) and Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR).

Skylar GROTE (USA) is coming off a gold medal win in the first Ranking Series event. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Seven finalists from first Ranking Series

Last month, the UWW Ranking Series kicked off in Zagreb, Croatia. Seven finalists from the Zagreb Open are expected to compete in Alexandria, including two champions and five runners-up.

Looking for their second Ranking Series gold of the season are Anastasia Nichita at 59kg and Skylar GROTE (USA) at 76kg. Nichita won gold at the 2022 senior World Championships and also has a 2018 U20 gold medal. Additionally, Nichita won last year’s Yasar Dogu as part of the 2022 Ranking Series. Grote, who won the Zagreb Open at 72kg, is bumping up to 76 kg for action in Egypt. Overall, she has competed in three Ranking Series events and medaled in all three. In addition to gold last month, she collected a gold and bronze medal last season.

Silver medalists from the Zagreb Open registered to compete in Egypt include Jiang ZHU (CHN) at 50kg, Yongxin FENG (CHN) at 57kg, Bullen at 62kg and Dalma CANEVA (ITA) at 72kg.

Samar HAMZA (EGY) will lead the host nation's charge in Alexandria. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Egypt to host first Ranking Series event

Next week will mark Egypt’s first time hosting a Ranking Series tournament. Egypt has held the African Championships and Arab Championships in the past. The host country will have great representation in the women’s field with 16 athletes registered. Among them is multiple-time World Championships medalist Samar Hamza at 76kg, who is the first and only Egyptian woman to win a world medal at the senior level. She is joined by two-time age-group world medalist Nada MOHAMED (EGY) at 50kg and several senior African Championships medalists, including Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY), Louji YASSIN (EGY), Farah HUSSEIN (EGY), Mentalla BADRAN (EGY), Eman MOHAMED (EGY) and Mona AHMED (EGY).

Egypt dominates GR, Nigeria shines in WW at African Championships

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Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series: World champs highlight strong WW field