#Grappling

Kazakhstan wins all four team titles at Asian Grappling Championships

By Vinay Siwach

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (June 25) -- Continuing their success from the age-group categories, Kazakhstan dominated the Asian Grappling Championships, winning men's and women's Grappling and Grappling Gi titles.

The team in Grappling Gi won eight out of our eight gold medals winning the team title with 200 points. Iran finished second with 82 points while India was third with 45 points.

In the women's Grappling Gi, Kazakhstan finished with 120 points and emerged as the top team. Out of the five gold medals, four were won by Kazakhstan. The only other country to win gold was the Philippines.

Grappling also saw Kazakhstan win seven gold medals. Iran denied the clean sweep of the medals and won the gold at 130kg. But it did not stop Kazakhstan from winning the team title. It finished first with 190 points. Iran was second with 87 points while Kyrgyzstan was third with 42 points.

Kazakhstan and the Philippines were the top teams in women's Grappling with the former winning four gold medals. The Philippines won one gold medal at 53kg.

Grappling

RESULTS

Men's Grappling Gi

62kg
GOLD: Zhassulan ZHETPISBAY (KAZ)
SILVER: Armat KABDOLOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Nathanielle ORTIZ (PHI)

66kg
GOLD: Aibar ORAZALY (KAZ)
SILVER: Daulet ZHUMADULLAYEV (KAZ)

71kg
GOLD: Sarsen ZHETIBAYEV (KAZ)
SILVER: Fierre AFAN (PHI)
BRONZE: Raghav JAMWAL (IND)

77kg
GOLD: Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ)
SILVER: Radheshyam YADAV (IND)
BRONZE: Sadegh ZARE (IRI)

84kg
GOLD: Temirzhan TULEBAYEV (KAZ)
SILVER: Amirhossein JINOUR (IRI)
BRONZE: Azamat SARBASSOV (KAZ)

92kg
GOLD: Ravshan URAZOV (KAZ)
SILVER: Kambar KOKOMBAY (KAZ)
BRONZE: Azizbek SHARIPOV (UZB)

100kg
GOLD: Bakdaulet ABYZOV (KAZ)
SILVER: Arbi UMAROV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Arman ATAEITOSANLOU (IRI)

130kg
GOLD: Saulet ABUSSALIKHOV (KAZ)
SILVER: Ali Reza SHAHRIARIYANEHSARI (IRI)
BRONZE: Rustam SARTBAEV (KAZ)

Women's Grappling Gi

53kg
GOLD: Maria RATCLIFF (PHI)
SILVER: Ulbolgan ZHAKSYLYKOVA (KAZ)
BRONZE: Alina KASKINOVA (KAZ)

58kg
GOLD: Botakoz YELDOSKYZY (KAZ)
SILVER: Nuraiym MUNAITBAS (KAZ)

64kg
GOLD: Fariza KULYNTAY (KAZ)
SILVER: Zamira BOLATOVA (KAZ)

71kg
GOLD: Meruyert SATYBALDIYEVA (KAZ)
SILVER: Shynar UZBEKOVA (KAZ)

90kg
GOLD: Assel KABDYGALYMOVA (KAZ)
SILVER: Aikorkem IKHSANOVA (KAZ)

Men's Grappling

62kg
GOLD: Arulan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ)
SILVER: Arystanbek GIZZATOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Michael TABAMO (PHI)

66kg
GOLD: Bekzat KAPASHOV (KAZ)
SILVER: Saveliy KAZAKOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Syimyk MAKHMEDOV (KGZ)

71kg
GOLD: Sarsen ZHETIBAYEV (KAZ)
SILVER: Fierre AFAN (PHI)
BRONZE: Raghav JAMWAL (IND)

77kg
GOLD: Adlan MADAYEV (KAZ)
SILVER: Nurbek TALBUDIN (KAZ)
BRONZE: Adilet KHUPTUEV (KGZ)

84kg
GOLD: Azamat SARBASSOV (KAZ)
SILVER: Temirzhan TULEBAYEV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Amirhossein JINOUR (IRI)

92kg
GOLD: Azizbek SHARIPOV (UZB)
SILVER: Ramazan KUSSAINOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Rakhmatulla ABDUZHALILOV (KAZ)

100kg
GOLD: Arbi UMAROV (KAZ)
SILVER: Ramazan ABDRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Mohammad JAFARITIRTASHI (IRI)

130kg
GOLD: Amir FARHADPOR (IRI)
SILVER: Rustam SARTBAEV (KAZ)
BRONZE: Vadim SIMACHENKO (KAZ)

Women's Grappling

54kg
GOLD: Maria RATCLIFF (PHI)
SILVER: Gulnaz ABDRAKHMANOVA (KAZ)
BRONZE: Alina KASKINOVA (KAZ)

58kg
GOLD: Nuraiym MUNAITBAS (KAZ)
SILVER: Aizhan ISMAGULOVA (KAZ)

64kg
GOLD: Fariza KULYNTAY (KAZ)
SILVER: Zamira BOLATOVA (KAZ)

71kg
GOLD: Shynar UZBEKOVA (KAZ)
SILVER: Meruyert SATYBALDIYEVA (KAZ)

90kg
GOLD: Assel KABDYGALYMOVA (KAZ)
SILVER: Aikorkem IKHSANOVA (KAZ)

#wrestlemanama

World C'ships 2026 to be held in October; U20 Worlds in Bratislava

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 8) -- United World Wrestling has officially confirmed the host city for the 2026 U20 World Championships and finalized the competition dates for the 2026 Senior World Championships.

In addition, the host for 2026 Asian Championships has also been shifted from Amman, Jordan to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Bratislava, Slovakia, has been selected to host the 2026 U20 World Championships. Bratislava had successfully hosted the 2025 European Championships in April with sellout stadium. The U20 World Championships in 2026 are scheduled to take place from August 17 to 23 and a similar crowd is expected for the competition.

UWW also confirmed the competition window for the 2026 Senior World Championships to be hosted in Manama, Bahrain, which was announced as hosts during a ceremony held in Zagreb in September.

The World Championships are set to run from October 24 to November 1, providing nine days of action featuring the world’s top wrestlers.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Nenad LALOVIC had said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision."

The Asian Championships, originally scheduled in Amman will now be hosted by Bishkek from April 6 to 12.

The 2026 U15 & U20 Asian Championships have been moved from Bangkok to Pattaya.

The U17, U20 and senior African Championships will be held in Alexandria, Egypt from April 28 to May 3. In addition, the dates for the 2026 Pan-American Championships were also modified. The competition will now be held from May 7 to 10 in Coralville, Iowa, United States.

For the full 2026 calendar, visit uww.org/events.