#RankingSeries

El Sayed, Amine headline Mediterranean Games entries

Friday, June 17, 2022 - 17:00 By Vinay Siwach

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ORAN, Algeria (June 16) -- The XIX Mediterranean Games are scheduled to be held in Oran, Algeria from June 26 to 29 and will see a number of stars in the action next week.

Not only the Games will see some of the biggest names of the sport, but it will also mark the Ranking Series points being at any Games for the second time after the South-East Asian Games last month.

United World Wrestling's decision to include the Mediterranean Games, which struggled to get wrestlers to compete in the Games, in the ranking system has received a tremendous response which resulted in nearly twice as many athletes registering for this edition as the previous ones. This year's edition received entries from countries like Turkey, France, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Algeria, Morocco, San Marino, North Macedonia and Albania.

Olympic bronze medalist Yasemin ADAR (TUR) will be leading the women's wrestling field while the Games will also mark the return of Mohamed EL SAYED (EGY), who won a bronze medal in the 67kg weight class at the Tokyo Olympics. History maker for San Marino with a bronze medal in Tokyo and European champion, Myles AMINE (SMR) is entered at 86kg.

Turkey is sending a strong team with European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR), Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR), Osman YILDIRIM (TUR), Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) and Murat FIRAT (TUR) wrestling in Oran.

Earlier this year, United World Wrestling had added the Games before the September World Championships as part of the Ranking Series.

Wrestlers competing at these Games are eligible for Ranking points that will ultimately count for the seeds at the World Championships. The points will be calculated from the four Ranking Series events and the continental championships. Between the Games and four Ranking Series events, a wrestler's best four results will be counted for the seeding.

Across 17 Olympic weight classes, a total of 145 wrestlers will be competing at the EMEC Hall over the four days beginning June 26.

Myles AMINEEuropean champion Myles AMINE (SMR) is entered at 86kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Freestyle

57kg
Salah KATEB (ALG)
Mohamed GAMAL (EGY)
Valentin DAMOUR (FRA)
Nikolaos VLANDOS (GRE)
Morris OBISPADO (ITA)
Levan METREVELI (ESP)
Muhammed KARAVUS (TUR)

65kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG)
Yehia HAFEZ (EGY)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Stevan MICIC (SRB)
Juan GONZALEZ (ESP)
Ahmad DIRKI (SYR)
Munir AKTAS (TUR)

74kg
Orges LILA (ALB)
Abdelkader IKKAL (ALG)
Amr HUSSEN (EGY)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Jacopo MASOTTI (ITA)
Alban SOPA (KOS)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Malik AMINE (SMR)
Hetik CABOLOV (SRB)
Samet AK (TUR)

86kg
Osman HAJDARI (ALB)
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Choiras CHARALAMBOS (CYP)
Mahmoud BADAWI (EGY)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Aron CANEVA (ITA)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Damian IGLESIAS (ESP)
Feda ALASTA (SYR)
Fatih ERDIN (TUR)

97kg
Mohamed FARDJ (ALG)
Mostafa ELDERS (EGY)
Simone INNATTONI (ITA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Alejandro CANADA PANCORBO (ESP)
Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)

125kg
Mohamed KHELIL (ALG)
Alexios KAOUSLIDIS (CYP)
Youssif HEMIDA (EGY)
Konstantinos ALEXANDRIDIS (GRE)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO (ITA)
Egzon SHALA (KOS)
Magomedgadzhi NURASULOV (SRB)
Omar SAREM (SYR)
Salim ERCAN (TUR)

Kerem KAMAL (TUR)Kerem KAMAL (TUR) will looking to win the 67kg gold in Oran. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

60kg
Bajram SINA (ALB)
Abdeldjbar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Ruben MARVICE (ITA)
Fouad FAJARI (MOR)
Ahmad ALNAKDALI (SYR)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Ishak GHAIOU (ALG)
Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Ignazio SANFILIPPO (ITA)
Pedro MIGUEL (POR)
Daniel BOBILLO VIGIL (ESP)
Mohamad FAWAZ (SYR)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Elkrim Abd OUAKALI (ALG)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Georgios PREVOLARAKIS (GRE)
Ciro RUSSO (ITA)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Luka GUMILAR (SLO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Mohamad ALOBEID (SYR)
Lamjed MAAFI (TUN)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Vjeksolav LUBURIC (CRO)
Noureldin HASSAN (EGY)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Zarko DICKOV (SRB)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)

130kg
Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Samuele VARICELLI (ITA)
Amine GUENNICHI (TUN)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)

Marwa AMRI (TUN)African champ Marwa AMRI (TUN) will be wrestling at 62kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG)
Mohamed NADA (EGY)
Julie SABATIE (FRA)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Imane BOUJNANE (MOR)
Aintzane GONI (ESP)
Sarra HAMDI (TUN)
Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)

53kg
Chemlal LAMIA (ALG)
Mohamed SHAIMAA (EGY)
Tatiana SALAH (FRA)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Carmen DI DIO (ITA)
Zinem HASSOUNE (MOR)
Marina RUEDA (ESP)
Siwar BOUSETA (TUN)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)

57kg
Rayane HOUFAF (ALG)
Farah HUSSEIN (EGY)
Mathilde RIVIERE (FRA)
Morena DE VITA (ITA)
Atika EL ASLA (MOR)
Garciela SANCHEZ (ESP)
Bediha GUN (TUR)

62kg
Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG)
Soaad ABDELDAYIM (EGY)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Ana FABIAN (SRB)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
Marwa AMRI (TUN)
Asli TUGCU (TUR)

68kg
Houria BOUKRIF (ALG)
Menatalla BADRAN (EGY)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Nerea PAMPIN (ESP)
Khadija JLASSI (TUN)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)

76kg
Hadil BOUGHEZAL (ALG)
Samar HAMZA (EGY)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Stefania ZACHEILA (GRE)
Enrica RINDALI (ITA)
Carla LERA CELDA (ESP)
Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 1: Gamkrelidze beats Valencia; Sujeet, Lee in finals

Wednesday, February 4, 2026 - 09:34 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) -- The Zagreb Open 2026 begins with six weight classes in Freestyle -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg and 86kg. Stars like Zahid ZALENCIA (USA),  Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), AMAN (IND) are in action.

Please read the 2026 SEASON PREVIEW on uww.org

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | PREVIEW

Here's a recap of the morning session: 61kg medalists are already decided with Austin DESANTO (USA) winning gold and AMAN (IND) finishing with silver. 

Spencer LEE (USA) and Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) will face each other in the 57kg gold medal bout. SUJEET (IND) won two bouts via technical superiority and will now wrestle for gold at 65kg. At 74kg, a big final is set as David CARR (USA) and Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) will clash. And at 86kg, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) and 79kg world champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), who is now up at 86kg dropped their opening bouts. However, with Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) making it to the final, Valencia is pulled back while Kougioumtsidis has been knocked out.

13:38: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who defeated Zahid VALENCIA (USA) in the opening bout at 86kg, scores a late stepout to take a 2-2 criteria lead and beat Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) at 86kg semifinals. Gamkrelidze will wrestle Parker KEKEISEN (USA) for gold after he scored a 9-5 victory over Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI) in the other semifinal.

13:20: 74kg semifinals - David CARR (USA) with another technical superiority win at 74kg. He advances to the final after beating Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) 12-1. Four different takedowns and two gut-wrenches in that win for the American. A huge final coming up as world champion at 70kg Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) hangs on for a 4-3 win over Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA). The French wrestlers was up 2-1 but Aoyagi scored a stepout and takedown before giving up a stepout but managed to win the bout.

13:05: 70kg semifinals - Sina KHALILI (IRI), U23 world silver medalist, rolls to a 10-0 victory over ABHIMANYOU (IND) using gut-wrenches. He makes it to the final and will wrestle Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) for the gold medal. The Georgian defended his lead against Caleb HENSON (USA) to win 6-3. After leading 6-0, Kemertelidze gave up a takedown and then a stepout to Henson. But the American could not score the four points needed to win the semifinals.

12:55: 65kg semifinals - SUJEET (IND) continues his dominance at 65kg, beating Joseph MCKENNA (USA), 11-0 in the semifinal in semifinal. He will now wrestle for gold against Peyman NEMATI (IRI) who scored a comeback win over Gamzatgadzhi KHALIDOV (HUN). The Hungarian had a 2-0 lead before Nemati managed to turn it around and complete a 4-2 win

12:40: 57kg semifinals - Spencer LEE (USA) completes a dominant 10-2 victory over Fuga SASAKI (JPN). He managed an early 6-2 and then continued to dominate the match, eventually winning 12-2. He will face Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX) for the gold medal after the Mexican defeated Milad VALIZADEH (IRI). Bravo Young kept his false attacks and change of direction was excellent throughout the bout

Semifinals begin at 12:30 local time

So far, world champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA) has suffered a technical superiority loss at 86kg while Takara SUDA (JPN), moving up from 61kg to 65kg, dropped his match against Joseph MCKENNA (USA). At 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) has captured the gold medal after winning three bouts in a Nordic bracket

12:15: In what was a virtual final at 61kg, Austin DESANTO (USA) not only needed a victory over AMAN (IND), he also need to win via technical superiority or fall. He does exactly that by pinning Aman after taking an 8-0 lead and win the gold medal at 61kg. Aman finishes with a silver medal.

12:12: U23 world champion SUJEET (IND) finishes his quarterfinal at 65kg with a 10-0 victory over Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) and sets up a quarterfinal against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) who defeated Takara SUDA (JPN) 7-0 in the other quarterfinal.

12:08: Sina KHALILI (IRI) took a 9-1 lead over Ian PARKER (USA) but was gave a stepout with a minute remaining. However, he had little trouble holding on to his 9-3 lead and win his bout at 70kg.

12:00: Olympic silver medalist Spencer LEE (USA) hangs on for an easy 4-0 victory over European silver medalist Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB) at 57kg. He moves into the semifinals in which he will wrestle Fuga SASAKI (JPN)

11:55: Fuga SASAKI (JPN) hangs on for a 7-1 victory over ANKUSH (IND) in 57kg quarterfinals. Sasaki goes for three takedown and one stepout in his win over Ankush who failed to get any attacks going.

11:50: Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO) shuts down Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) at 70kg for a 3-0 win. Not much action in the match but Kemertelidze is happy with the win here.

11:45: Roman BRAVO-YOUNG (MEX) continues his excellent form and wins his quarterfinal against Anthony KNOX (USA), 12-2. He will wrestle in the semifinal at 57kg.

11:35: World champion Zahid VALENCIA (USA), who did not concede a single point at the World Championships, drops his quarterfinal against Vladimir GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 11-0. Gut-wrench from par terre for Gamkrelidze

11:25: Former U20 world bronze medalist ANKUSH (IND) uses the Figure 4 turn to great effect to beat Ali YAHYAPOUR (IRI), 11-0, at 57kg. Ankush has long been seen as the biggest challenge to Olympic bronze medalist AMAN (IND) at the weight class

11:15: Zahid VALENCIA (USA) off to solid starts at 86kg as he takes out Sandeep MANN (IND) 11-0 in the opening bout at 86kg. Valencia is the world champion at 86kg, a title he won at the same Arena Zagreb in September last year

11:05: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN), world champion at 70kg, makes his 74kg debut with a controlled 6-1 victory over James GREEN (USA). Aoyagi scored a stepout to lead 2-1 before scoring two counter takedowns to finish the bout as the winner.

10:55: David CARR (USA) took his own time to get going but he manages a victory via fall over Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI) after building a 13-2 lead at 74kg.

10:45: World champion at 79kg Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) seemed in complete control of his first bout at 86kg against Abolfazl SHAMSIPOUR (IRI), leading 6-1 with a minute remaining. However, Shamsipour mounts a comeback, scoring six points in the final minute and beat the Greek world champion 7-6  

10:40: First period technical superiority, 10-0, win for AMAN (IND) against Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) who is in action for the first time since winning a gold medal at the Ulaanbaatar Open in June last year.

10:30: Welcome to the Zagreb Open Ranking Series. Day one of the competition and we have six Freestyle weight classes in action. Multiple Olympic and world medalists in action today.