#WrestleBudapest19

Elsayed Advances to Second World Final in 10 Days at #WrestleBudapest

Saturday, November 2, 2019 - 19:34 By Taylor Miller

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Photo of Mohamed Elsayed (EGY) by Kadir Caliskan.

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Reigning U23 World champion Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) put together an impressive day on Saturday to move onto the 67 kg finals in Greco-Roman at the 2019 U23 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Tomorrow will mark his second World finals in the last 10 days as he won a World Military Games gold medal in Wuhan, China. Just over a month ago, Elsayed finished fifth at the 2019 World Championships in Kazakhstan.

To defend his U23 title, Elsayed will face Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR).

The 60 kg gold-medal match features 2018 Senior World silver medalist Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ), who will face Armen MELIKYAN (ARM) for the championship.

Sharshenbekov is also a 2017 Junior World silver medalist and 2016 Cadet World bronze medalist.

It will be a battle of Junior World champions at 97 kg as Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN), a 2018 Junior World champion, will face 2016 Junior World champion Giorgi MELIA (GEO) in the finals.

Melia already owns a U23 World medal, taking third in 2018. Savolainen has a pair of additional age-group World medals from the 2017 Junior Worlds and 2015 Cadet Worlds.

At 82 kg, 2016 Junior World silver medalist Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO) will take on 2019 Russia Nationals bronze medalist Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS).

For gold at 72 kg, 2019 Senior Asian champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) will go head-to-head with 2012 Cadet World bronze medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE).

The finals are set for Sunday at 5 p.m. local time live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

Semifinals results
60 kg
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) df. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR), 8-0
Armen MELIKYAN (ARM) df. Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN), 5-0

67 kg
Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) df. Katsuaki ENDO (JPN), 7-5
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR) df. Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL), 2-0

72 kg
Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR), 6-2
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 6-0

82 kg
Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS) df. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO), 7-2
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO) df. Yevgeniy POLIVADOV (KAZ), 2-1

97 kg
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) df. Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR), 9-5
Giorgi MELIA (GEO) df. Dzmitry KAMINSKI (BLR), 5-1

Finals matchups
60 kg: Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Armen MELIKYAN (ARM)
67 kg: Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) vs. Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (BLR)
72 kg: Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) vs. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
82 kg: Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS) vs. Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
97 kg: Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) vs. Giorgi MELIA (GEO)

#development

Bulgaria hosts OLYMP to increase media literacy

Wednesday, October 15, 2025 - 09:49 By United World Wrestling Press

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BULGARIA (October 15) -- Bulgaria hosted a seminar on the OLYMP project, funded by the European Union's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme, at Diana National Wrestling Hall on October 9. The project aims to improve the media literacy of athletes, coaches, and sports managers.

The seminar was led by Georgi BANOV, one of the doyens of Bulgarian sports journalism, who has covered 14 Olympic Games in winter and summer sports, as well as a number of world and European Championships in wrestling, weightlifting, athletics, biathlon, and more.

The seminar was organized for the athletes of the national wrestling teams. The event was hosted by Belcho GORANOV, Chairman of the Ethics and Legal Commission of the United World Wrestling (UWW) and project manager on behalf of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by bgolympic (@bgolympic)

The team emphasized that the seminar is part of a six-month cycle of informal training under the OLYMP project, which covers a total of 110 young athletes. The program includes weekly sessions in small groups focusing on media and information literacy, critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as developing the participants' confidence and ability to defend their positions with reasoned arguments.

The weekly classes will include readings and discussions on biographies, novels, sports magazines, as well as topics related to sports management and economics. Additional informal activities -- meetings with prominent athletes and film screenings -- will be held twice a month, with each event featuring moderated debates and practical challenges for “fact checking” and ethical behavior on social media.

Banov drew the athletes' attention to how to verify the information they receive through social media and other sources, how to recognize fake news, how to search for reliable information, and how to use social networks correctly, avoiding hate speech.

At the end of the media literacy program, a combined (formal and informal) assessment is planned – short tests and case studies, observation of group work, participant portfolios, and satisfaction surveys—to report on the specific results of the training and its impact on the engagement of young athletes in public life.

Read more on BOC website