World Club Cup

Kashan Wins World Clubs Cup

By Ali Feizasa

The fourth edition of World Clubs Cup finished today in Tehran City, Iran. In a close finals match, Easy Pipe Kashan (IRI) edged Titan Mercury (USA), 6-4. In the third place bout, Setaregan Sari (IRI) downed Khimori (MGL).

Final Match: Easy Pipe Kashan (IRI) df. Titan Mercury (USA), 6-4

57kg- Reza ATARI (IRI / Easy Pipe) df. Thomas GILMAN (USA / Titan), 6-4
Reza ATARI (IRI) started the match with a double leg, taking the 2-0 lead on 2017 world silver medal winner, Thomas GILMAN (USA). The first period ended with Atari in the lead, 2-0. In second period, Gilman picked up four points off of two takedowns, but Atari earned the decisive takedown, winning the match 6-4.

61kg- Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO / Easy Pipe) df. Alan WATERS (USA / Titan), 7-0
Olympic and world champion Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) nearly picked up a fall twice as he gave the Iranian side their second win, defeating Alan WATERS (USA), 7-0.

 

Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) looks to score on a gut wrench in the World Clubs Cup finals.

65kg- Farzad AMOUZAD KHALILI (Easy Pipe) df.  Bernard FUTRELL (Titan), 6-3
Farzad AMOUZAD KHALILI (IRI) collected three points in each period, giving him the victory over FUTRELL, 6-3. Heading into 70kg, Easy Pipe lead Titan Mercury, 3-0.

70kg- Mohammad NADERI (Easy Pipe) df. Franklin GOMEZ (PUR / Titan), 2-2
Mohammad NADERI (IRI), the two-time world champion in beach wrestling bested 2011 world silver medal winner, Franklin GOMEZ (PUR), 2-2. It was Gomez who scored the first two points, but NADERI earned two points in second period, giving him the 2-2 win. This was the fourth straight victory for the Iranian side, Easy Pipe Kashan.

74kg- Nazariy KULCHYTSKYY (USA / Titan) df. Hossein ELYASI (IRI / Easy Pipe), 5-4
KULCHYTSKYY (USA) gave the USA side hope as defeated Hossein ELYASI (IRI), 5-4. KULCHYTSKYY’s two points with seconds left gave Titan Mercury their first victory of the finals.

79kg- Kyle DAKE (USA / Titan) TF. Reza AFZALI (IRI / Easy Pipe), 12-0
Kyle DAKE (USA) showed his dominance, picking up four points at the beginning of the match. Dake’s 12-0 victory gave Titan Mercury their second win of the finals, as they trailed 4-2.

 

Kyle DAKE (USA) in a single leg during the finals of the 2017 World Clubs Cup finals. 

86kg- David TAYLOR (USA / Titan) df. Alireza KARIMI (IRI / Easy Pipe), 3-1
David TAYLOR proved he knows how to beat Iranian stars. After defeating Hassan YAZDANI in the 2017 World Cup, Taylor won the tough match against 2015 world bronze medal winner Alireza KARIMI 3-2. After seven matches, Easy Pipe (IRI) was ahead 4-3.

92kg- Hossein SHAHBAZI (IRI / Easy Pipe) df. Nickolas HEFLIN (USA / Titan), 4-2
2016 junior world champion Hossein SHAHBAZI (IRI) defeated Nickolas HEFLIN(USA), 4-2 to achieve the fifth victory for Easy Pipe.

97kg- Kyle SNYDER (USA / Titan) TF. Vladislav BAITSAEV (RUS / Easy Pipe), 11-0
Olympic and world champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) had an important win for Titan Mercury as he defeated Russian Vladislav BAITSAEV by technical superiority, 11-0.  Heading into the heavy weight bout, Titan Mercury trailed by one match. The winning of the 125kg bout would determine the champion of World Clubs Cup.

125kg- Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO / Easy Pipe) df. Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA / Titan), 6-5
The key match of the event came in the heavy weight bout, where 2017 world champion Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) defeated world bronze medal winner, Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (USA). Petriashvili struggled through a rib injury to pick up the 6-5 win. This victory ensured the championship for Easy Pipe Kashan, defeating Titan Mercury, 6-4.

 

Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) seals with the victory for Easy Pipe with a win the World Clubs Cup finals. 

Third Place Match: Setaregan Sari (IRI) df. Khimori (MGL), 9-0
57kg- Nader HAJAGHANIA (Setaregan) df.TSEVEENSUREN Tsogbakrakh (Khimori), 4-3
61kg- Mohammadreza RAMEZANPOUR (Setaregan) df. BATCHULUUN Basaniam (Khimori) by forfeit
65kg- TUMUR OCHIR Tulga (Khimori) df. Hassan MORADGHOLI (Setaregan), 9-5
70kg- Magomed KURBANALIEV (Setaregan) TF. LUTBAYAR Batbayar (Khimori), 10-0
74kg- Magomed Rasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (Setaregan) TF. BOLDKHUU Batsukh (Khimori), 10-0
79kg- Omid HASSANTABAR (Setaregan)TF. Turbold GANBOLD (Khimori), 10-0
86kg- Esmaeil MAHMOUDI df. Gankhuyag GANBATAAR (Khimori) by forfeit
92kg- Abazar ESLAMI (Setaregan) TF. Shogai TUMURBAT MUNGUN (Khimori) , 12-2
97kg- Esmaeil NEJATIAN (Setaregan)df. Batsukh ZORIGTBAATAR (Khimori), 6-2
125kg- Jaber SADEGHZADEH (Setaregan) TF. MUNKHTUR Lkhagvegerel (Khimori), 11-0

Fifth place match: Raindi (GEO) df. India Club (IND), 6-4
Seventh place match: Budapest SC (HUN) df. Bimeh Razi (IRI)- Bimeh Razi didn’t compete.
Ninth place match: BS Brothers (KAZ) df. Montreal (CAN), 6-4
Eleventh place match: Tajik Air (TJK) df. Kelechik (KGZ), 6-4

Semifinal 1: Titan Mercury (USA) df. Khimori (MGL), 9-1
57kg- Thomas GILMAN (Titan) df.TSEVEENSUREN Tsogbakrakh (Khimori), 5-2
61kg- Alan WATERS (Titan) Pinned BATCHULUUN Basaniam (Khimori)
65kg- TUMUR OCHIR Tulga (Khimori) TF. Bernard FUTRELL (Titan), 12-2
70kg- Franklin GOMEZ (Titan) df. LUTBAYAR Batbayar (Khimori), 5-3
74kg- Nazariy KULCHYTSKYY (Titan) df. BOLDKHUU Batsukh (Khimori), 10-2
79kg- Kyle DAKE  (Titan)TF. Turbold GANBOLD (Khimori), 10-0
86kg- David TAYLOR (Titan)Pinned. Gankhuyag GANBATAAR (Khimori)
92kg- Nickolas HEFLIN (Titan)TF. Shogai TUMURBAT MUNGUN (Khimori) , 10-0
97kg- Kyle SNYDER (Titan) TF. Batsukh ZORIGTBAATAR (Khimori), 12-2 
125kg- Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (Titan) TF. MUNKHTUR Lkhagvegerel (Khimori), 10-0

Semifinal 2: Easy Pipe Kashan (IRI) df. Setaregan Sari (IRI), 6-4
57kg- Reza ATARI (Easy Pipe) df. Nader HAJAGHANIA (Setaregan), 11-4
61kg- Vladimir KHINCHEGASHVILI (Easy Pipe) df. Mohammad RAMEZANPOUR (Setaregan), 8-0 (Ramezanpour disqualified for receiving three passive cautions)  
65kg- Haji ALIEV (Setaregan) df. Farzad Amouzad KHALILI (Easy Pipe) , 4-3
70kg- Magomed KURBANALIEV (Setaregan) TF. Mohammad NADERI (Easy Pipe), 12-1
74kg- Hossein ELYASI (Easy Pipe) pinned Magomed Rasul GAZIMAGOMEDOV (Setaregan), 2-9
79kg- Omid HASANTABAR (Setaregan) df.  Reza AFZALI (Easy Pipe), 4-3
86kg- Alireza KARIMI (Easy Pipe) df. Esmaeil MAHMOUDI (Setaregan), 5-0
92kg- Hossein SHAHBAZI (Easy Pipe)df. Abazar ESLAMI (Setaregan), 4-3
97kg- Vladislav BAITSAEV (Easy Pipe)df. Esmaeil NEJATIAN (Setaregan), 8-0
125kg- Jaber SADEGHZADEH  (Setaregan) df. Geno PETRIASHVILI (Easy Pipe)by forfeit

 

 

#WrestleBelgrade

Wrestling scores 443% engagement growth as UWW+ makes World C’ships debut

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (October 18) –– United World Wrestling (UWW) trebled its year-on-year (YoY) digital viewership and recorded more than five times as many social engagements at this year’s UWW World Championships (WCH23) in Belgrade, Serbia, as the sport debuted an upgraded digital portfolio, including the new UWW+ over-the-top (OTT) service.

The multi-tiered, premium subscription streaming platform registered 4.36 million livestream views throughout the 2023 edition of UWW’s flagship event, held between September 16-24. The event also recorded 25 million social engagements (+443% over WCH22) and 155 million video views across its digital platforms (+203% over WCH22).

The impressive growth coincides with the redesign of the UWW website and the introduction of an enhanced fan-data ecosystem to help personalize and deliver an easy-to-navigate fan experience across web, social media, and UWW’s dedicated mobile app. Overall, WCH23 grew its digital reach by 63% to 296 million and attracted over 404,000 new followers.

Nenad LALOVIC, UWW President, said: “By diversifying the fan experience at this year’s World Championships, UWW has once again proven the power of digital transformation for driving engagement and expanding wrestling’s global audience. The latest numbers demonstrate the importance of digitalization and to lay the foundations for expanding the sport’s digital audience.”

Gordon Templeman, UWW’s Director of Commercial Operations and Communications, said: “UWW is establishing a digital portfolio which allows us to offer a personalized fan experience. To do this, we have diversified by investing in customer-facing digital products which enhances the digital experience for wrestling fans and enables UWW’s sponsors and commercial partners to build a direct relationship with our global audience.”

UWW
Key highlights from the WCH23 data analysis include: 

  • 25 million social media engagements (+443% over WCH22)
  • 155 million total video views (+203% over WCH22)
  • 404,000 new followers (+167% over WCH22)
  • 296 million digital reach (+63% over WCH22)
  • 4.36 million livestream views on UWW+

The UWW+ streaming platform is integrated within UWW’s website and mobile app, as part of the upgrades to UWW’s digital inventory and marks the latest phase of the International Federation’s collaboration with N3XT Sports, the end-to-end digital transformation consultancy. UWW has identified and prioritized digital transformation as one of the five pillars for its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, which was presented and approved at the 2021 UWW Congress.

Motasem El Bawab, N3XT Sports’ Chief Information Officer (CIO), said: “Our team at N3XT Sports offers an end-to-end service plugged into UWW’s wider digital team. In addition to UWW+ and wrestling’s new, first-class streaming offering, our team also supported every aspect of UWW’s digital operation throughout WCH23, across digital marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), while optimizing the fan journey through data analytics and the assistance of artificial intelligence-driven software solutions.”

Click here to review the 2023 Senior World Championships case study.