#WrestleBelgrade

Lalovic Re-Elected as UWW President For Six-Year Term

By Vinay Siwach

BELGRADE, Serbia (October 31) – The United World Wrestling held its Congress Sunday and Nenad LALOVIC was re-elected as the President of UWW along with six bureau members in Belgrade, Serbia.

Lalovic, first elected to the post in 2013, will serve a fresh term till 2026 after standing unopposed for the post. Due to the delayed Congress owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, five years remain in his term.

Six bureau members were also elected with Fouad MESKOUT (MAR), Mikhail MAMIASHVILI (RUS), Pedro GAMA FILHO (BRA) and Akhroldjan RUZIEV (UZB) retaining their place after their six-year term came to an end.

Don RYAN (CAN) and Lucio CANEVA (ITA) were the two newly elected members of the bureau. The elected members will serve till 2026.

Lalovic, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee Executive Board, thanked the members of the Congress for their confidence in him since taking over as the President eight years ago.

The 63-year-old's re-election was due in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic which forced UWW to postpone the Congress.

At the Congress, there were 104 eligible voters out of which 103 were cast for the election of bureau members with a majority of 52 votes.

Meskout, Mamiashvili, Ryan, Gama and Ruziev were elected with a clear majority in the first round. The sixth member did not get a clear majority, therefore a second round was conducted after which Caneva was elected to the bureau with 58 votes.

The Congress gathers every two years to discuss a range of topics and in Belgrade, Lalovic stressed the new initiatives in women’s wrestling, promotion of associated styles, youth engagement, the image of wrestling and digital transformation.

Cape Verde, Kuwait Get Affiliation

CPV

In the same direction, Congress approved the affiliation of two new nations -- Cape Verde and Kuwait. Both the nations were also granted voting rights during Congress.

“The support from UWW has been immense and this affiliation is a huge thing for our country,” Secretary-General of the Cape Verde Wrestling Federation Anthony WESLEY (CPV) said. “We have waited for this for a long time. It's been a process which began in 1996.”

Wrestlers from Cape Verde were part of the World Olympic Qualifiers in Sofia, Bulgaria earlier this year.

For Kuwait, the affiliation gives an opportunity to grow the sport and include more kids in the sport.

“We are very excited about this,” wrestler Mohammed ABDULKAREEM (KUW) said. “It began as a small effort but we are here now. We only have the senior team but now we can start the cadet, junior and other levels as well. Thanks to UWW”

Details of the Congress can be found on uww.org.

#WrestleBaku

European OG Qualifier: Greco-Roman Paris 2024 qualification bouts set

By United World Wrestling Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (April 5) -- European OG Qualifier kicks off in Baku, Azerbaijan with Greco-Roman. Six Olympic weight classes will run through on day one with 12 Olympic spots on offer. The six weight classes are -- 60kg, 67kg, 77kg, 87kg, 97kg and 130kg.

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WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | GRECO-ROMAN PREVIEW

Here are the Paris 2024 qualification bouts for the evening session

60kg
Victor CIOBANU (MDA) vs. Hleb MAKARANKA (AIN)
Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (AIN) vs. Enes BASAR (TUR)

67kg
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) vs Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Gevorg SAHAKYAN (POL) vs. Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)

77kg
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA) vs. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Zoltán LÉVAI (HUN) vs. Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)

87kg
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) vs. Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) vs. Kiryl MASKEVICH (AIN)

97kg
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) vs. Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB) vs. Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)

130kg
Jello KRAHMER (GER) vs. Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE) vs Sergei SEMENOV (AIN)

15:05: Milad ALIRZAEV (AIN) ends Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) entertaining campaign with a 10-2 win at 87kg. He will wrestle in the semifinals later tonight 

14:50: Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (AIN) beats Leri ABULADZE (GEO) 4-0 and will move into the semifinals at 60kg. Abuladze was called passive in both periods and Allakhiarov scored a turn as well, winning 4-0.

14:40: Alexandru GUTU (MDA) will wrestle in the 77kg as he beats Adlet TIULIUBAEV (AIN) 5-3 in the quarterfinals. Tiuliubaev scored only one turn from par terre in the second period and failed to get the lead.

14:35: Enes BASAR (TUR) dashes the hopes of local fans as he beats European champion Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) 3-1 in the 60kg quarterfinals. He will be wrestling in the semifinals later today

14:30: Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) doesn't leave anything to chance this time. He gets a chest wrap and rolls to a 9-0 win over Mihail BRADU (MDA) and moves into the semifinal at 87kg against European champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB).

14:20: Victor CIOBANU (MDA) with another quick win at 60kg. He beats Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU) 14-0 and moves into the semifinal for the evening session.

14:10: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) hits a front five-pointer over Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) before finishing the bout 11-0. He reaches the 77kg semifinals.

14:00: European champion Sergei SEMENOV (AIN) with a 1-1 win over Heiki NABI (EST) at 130kg. He moves into the semifinals for the evening session. One more win to earn a Paris 2024 quota

13:45: Is that the upset of the tournament so far? Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER) beats European silver medalist Magomed MURTAZALIEV (AIN) 1-1 in the 97kg 1/8 finals. The result means that Murtazaliev will not be able to win a Paris 2024 quota from Baku

13:30: Victor CIOBANU (MDA) wastes no time beating Melkamu FETENE (ISR) 11-0 and advancing to the quarterfinals at 60kg. Typical Ciobanu big throws.

13:25: Two Norway wrestlers advance to the quarterfinals. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) beats Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) 7-1 at 97kg and Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) wins 9-0 against Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU) at 87kg

13:20: Local star and European champion Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE) on the mat for his first bout at 60kg. He is taking on Oleksii MASYK (UKR).  The first par terre advantage goes to Mammadli and he scores four. But Masyk manages to block the second attempt and gets a point for stepout. Mammadli leads 5-1 at the break. Maysk with a par terre advantage in the second period but no points were scored. Mammadli leads 5-2 and will win with that score.

13:15: Leri ABULADZE (GEO) with an effortless 9-1 win over Razvan ARNAUT (ROU). He scores all his points in the second period from par terre to win.

12:55: Ivan HUKLEK (CRO) would be kicking himself as he let go of a 5-0 lead against Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) and lost 7-5. Huklek got the first par terre advantage and two for caution as Komarov blocked his attack. He scored a turn to lead 5-0. But in the second period, Komarov brought out his gut wrench and won 7-5.

12:45: Selcuk CAN (TUR) cannot catch a break from come-from-behind victories. From the brink of defeat, he wins 10-7 against Ruslan BICHURIN (AIN) at 67kg. Bichurin scored three turns from par terre to lead 7-0 but as he was going for a fourth, Can blocked him and tried a pin. Bichurin fouled and was cautioned. Can, from par terre, scored a throw to make the score 7-6. In the second period, Can hit a four-pointer to win 10-7

12:30: Two wrestlers returning from shoulder surgeries, Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) and Islam ABBASOV (AZE) at 87kg. Bisultanov gets blocked in par terre and Abbasov gets a 2-1 lead. Bisultanov gets close to scoring a takedown twice in the second period but he gets called passive. Abbasov leads 3-1 and scores three turns from par terre to win 9-1. Denmark challenges the call and on review, Abbasov is seen grabbing the singlet. Abbasov's lead back to 3-1. Bisultanov with a takedown to take a 3-3 criteria lead. He scores another takedown and extends the lead to 5-3 and will finish the bout with a win.

12:20: Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) is up against Abu AMAEV (BUL) and gets the first par terre advantage. He scores two turns to lead 5-0. Amaev gets the advantage in the second period but fails to score. Nasibov leads 5-1. He wins with the same score to advance at 67kg.

12:00: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) is now in the quarterfinals at 77kg. He beats Oldrich VARGA (CZE) 4-1 and is now two wins away from a Paris 2024 spot. On Mat C, the European champion at 130kg Sergei SEMENOV (AIN) beats Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (AIN) 4-0.

11:50: Alexandru GUTU (MDA) is on Mat B against Patryk BEDNARZ (POL) and he gets his trademark front headlock four-pointer to lead 5-0 at the break. He gets another point for offense in the second period and wins 6-0.

11:35: A 5-1 victory for Leri ABULADZE (GEO) at 60kg. The 63kg world champion is hoping to qualify Georgia for the Paris Games at the new weight class.

11:30: Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA) takes out Alex SZOKE (HUN) with a 1-1 win. The wrestlers exchanged passivity points and Kakhelashvili got the advantage in the second period to claim the win

11:19: Two friends Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) and Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) up against each other at 87kg. Sterkenburg leads 1-1 at the break but Mukubu takes a 2-1 lead before adding a takedown and roll for a 6-1 victory.

10:55: Selcuk CAN (TUR) and Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) are coming on Mat C. Sleiva with a four-pointer to begin the match but Can answers with one of his own. Can with a lift but Sleiva blocks his second action and gets two points. Can scores a takedown to take a 6-6 lead at the break. Can scores a takedown but Sleiva asks for a break. Sleiva challenges but the takedown is confirmed and he takes a 9-6 lead with 23 seconds left. Can will advance to the next round.

10:42: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) gets his campaign going with a 7-4 win over Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA) at 77kg. On Mat C, Deni NAKAEV (GER) drops his first bout to Ilie COJOCARI (ROU) and France's 72kg world champion Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA) fails to advance after a 5-1 loss to Adlet TIULIUBAEV (AIN).

10:30: Welcome to the European OG Qualifier in Baku. The competition will run on three mats with the winners of the semifinals qualifying their nations for the Paris Olympic Games. There will be no repechage, bronze or gold-medal bouts.