#WrestleHammamet

LIVE BLOG: African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier , Day Two

By Eric Olanowski

HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 3) -- Women's wrestling takes center stage on Day 2 of action at the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier.

19:20:  The semifinal session just wrapped up. We'll take a few-minute break and roll right into the medal matches.

19:11: This'll be the final match of the semifinal session. We'll take a quick break and roll right into the medal matches. 

19:07: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) continues to roll past the competition at 68kg. She's barely broke a sweat in her first two matches. She's scored back-to-back technical superiority wins on the day. Oborudud's first came against Enas Mostafa Youssef Khourshed AHMED (EGY) and her second came against Anta SAMBOU (SEN). She'll wrestle Khadija JLASSI (TUN) in the third round. 

18:53: After dominating semifinal performances, Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI) and Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) qualified Guinea and Tunisia for the Olympic Games at 57kg. Camara pinned Rayane HOUFAF (ALG) after leading 6-0, and Bouseta scored two takedowns, two exposures and a reversal to defeat Eman EBRAHIM (EGY), 9-2.

18:35: How about that? Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) scored five first-period takedowns against Siwar LOUATI BEN ALI (TUN) and booked Guam a ticket to the Olympic Games at 53kg. She's the second women's wrestler ever from Guam to qualify for the Olympic Games. 

18:22: After leading 10-0, Joseph Emilienne ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) pinned Lamia CHEMLAL (ALG) and qualified Cameroon for the Olympic Games at 53kg. That was her second win of the day via fall. In her first match, Essombe Tiako pinned her '20 finals opponent Bose SAMUEL (NGR) in less than a minute. 

18:21: ICYMI: Tunisia Tallies Four GR Olympic Berths on Friday

18:13: There's going to be one more 50kg Round 4 match. After that, the next four matches will determine Olympic berths as 53kg and 57kg are traditional brackets.

18:07: We're back to action! The match order is posted below. Outside of 53kg and 57kg, the majority of these matches will be Nordic-style bracket matches -- meaning the winners may not punch their nation's tickets to Tokyo. They'll have to finish in the top two to book a spot at the Tokyo Olympics.

HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 3) -- Women's wrestling takes center stage on Day 2 of action at the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier.

12:40: That concludes the morning session. We'll return at 18:00 for the women's wrestling Tokyo Qualification round.

Traditional-Bracket Semifinal Matches:

53kg
SEMIFINAL - Siwar LOUATI BEN ALI (TUN) vs. Rckaela Ramos AQUINO (GUM) 
SEMIFINAL - Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) vs. Lamia CHEMLAL (ALG) 

57kg
SEMIFINAL - Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) vs. Eman EBRAHIM (EGY) 
SEMIFINAL - Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI) vs. Rayane HOUFAF (ALG) 

12:35: This'll be the last match of the morning session. 

12:13: What a match! Amri comes out on top, 3-1. She waited for the inactivity clock to expire, and once it did, she struck with a takedown and won by two points. Smart wrestling on behalf of the Tunisian. 

12:03: One of African women's wrestling biggest rivalries Amri and Adeniyi just started on Mat B.

11:57: This session is flying by! We only have two matches left on each mat. 

11:39: That didn't last too long! Hamza was quick to hit a nasty headlock. She pinned Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) and will wrestle Debora TURE (GBS) in two matches on Mat C!

11:30: Samar HAMZA (EGY) is coming up next on Mat A. The reigning African champ is ranked No. 2 in the world at 76kg after her runner-up finish at the '21 Matteo Pellicone in Rome earlier this year.

11:22: Amri only led 1-0 after the first frame but is a different wrestler here in the second. She stopped an attack from Berthe ETANE NGOLLE (CMR) then snagged two gut wrenches and closed out the match 7-0. Amri's next match will be against Aminat ADENIYI (NGR) -- the last African wrestler to hand her a loss.

11:19: Rio Olympic bronze medalist iMarwa AMRI (TUN) is up now on Mat A! 

11:10: We barely had time to get situated and we already had a '20 African finals rematch go down! Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) hip tossed Bose SAMUEL (NGR) and earned the 24-second fall. That match was in the opening round at 53kg.

11:00: We're ready to get things roll on Day 2! Below you'll find the opening round match order for the morning session. 

#WrestleAlexandria, #WrestleParis

Algeria wins 5 Paris quotas at African & Oceania qualifiers; Elsayed falls

By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 22) -- Algeria emerged as the most successful nation on the first day of the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers with five Greco-Roman quotas in Alexandria. Egypt was second with four spots while Tunisia won two and Morocco managed to grab one.

Egypt has the chance to complete the line-up with six quotas as it has already won one at the World Championships and was hoping to win the remaining five in Alexandria. But Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY), the top seed and favorite to win one of the two 67kg spots, lost to Souleymen NASR (TUN) 7-4.

For Algeria, Tokyo Olympians Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) and Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) led a strong performance, qualifying for the 60kg and 87kg weight classes. Fadi ROUABAH (ALG) grabbed the quota at 97kg, Abd OUAKALI (ALG) made it at 77kg and Ishak GHAIOU (ALG) won at 67kg.

Fergat controlled his semifinal against Ismail ETTALIBI (MAR) and scored two turns from par terre while Ettalibi failed to score any. Fergat won 5-1. In the second semifinal, Moamen MOHAMED (EGY) survived a scare against Latuf MADI (COM), winning 6-5.

Made did well to not give up any points from par terre in the first period but Mohamed managed pushout in the second period to make it 2-0. As Mohamed tried to hit another big move on Madi, he fell on his own back, giving Madi two points. A lost challenge from Egypt made it 3-2. It became 5-2 when Madi once again blocked an attempted throw from Mohamed.

With time ticking, Mohamed got Madi in a bear hug and launched a big move, earning him four points and a 6-5 lead. He kept Madi in danger till 10 seconds left which he saw off.

Sid Azara dominated his bouts winning all three bouts including the semifinals via superiority. He defeated Roberto NSANGUA (ANG) 8-0 in a minute and 52 seconds to earn a Paris ticket.

Fellow Tokyo Olympian Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) also dominated his earlier bouts but was in trouble in the semifinal against Hakim TRABELSI (TUN). Metwally perhaps took it easy against Trabelsi who threw him for four using a headlock in the first second of the semifinal.

Metwally gathered himself after that eye-opener. Trabelsi was penalized for a headbutt but kept a 4-3 lead. The referees then cautioned Metwally for a headbutt, extending Trabelsi's lead to 6-3. But Metwally came out all guns blazing in the second period and at one point caught Trabelsi in a lock. Unfortunately, he fell on his back and gave up two points before scoring a reversal. As Metwally tried scoring from that position, Trabelsi committed a leg four, getting him a second caution and two-point penalty. Trabelsi was finally cautioned out of the bout when he blocked Metwally who hit a four and tried to pin Trabelsi.

Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) fell in the 67kg quarterfinal.

At 67kg, after beating Elsayed, Nasr earned a Paris quota with a solid 11-0 win over Sahid KARGBO (SLE) in the semifinals. In the quarterfinal, Nasr was the first to get the par terre advantage and he rolled Elsayed twice to lead 5-0 before Elsayed scored a stepout to cut it to 5-1. In the second period, Elsayed scored a turn from par terre to make it 5-4 and as he was trying to lift Nasr for a throw, Nasr's head touched outside the zone and the referee blew the whistle. Elsayed gave up another point for a challenge.

With 1:33 left on the clock, Nasr scored a stepout when Elsayed was trying an arm throw. Nasr's lead swelled to 7-4 and Elsayed found no opening in the remaining time. Elsayed was in disbelief as he left the mat.

Ghaiout denied Australia a Greco-Roman qualification after he defeated Ando LEHTMETS (AUS) 5-1 in the semifinal.

At 97kg, Rouabh denied Tokyo Olympian Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN) another trip to the Games after an 8-0 win in a minute and 57 seconds. The other Tokyo Olympian in this weight class, Mohamed GABR (EGY) won a spot with a 10-0 win over Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR).

The same set of countries earned the Paris spots at 77kg as well with Abd OUAKALI (ALG) beating Yassine CHEKLY (MAR) 11-0 while Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN (EGY) blanked Dean VAN ZYL (RSA) 9-0 just before the first period ended.

In the 130kg weight class, four wrestlers were entered in the tournament. Oussama ASSAD (MAR) confirmed his Paris Olympic qualification in the morning while Amine GUENNICHI (TUN) got a walkover from Marcus CARNEY (NZL) and earned the ticket to Paris.

The African & Oceania OG Qualifiers will continue on Saturday with Women's Wrestling and Freestyle on Sunday. Watch live on uww.org or UWW+.

 

fg

RESULTS

60kg

Paris Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) df. Ismail ETTALIBI (MAR), 5-1
SF 2: Moamen MOHAMED (EGY) df. Latuf MADI (COM), 6-5

67kg

Paris Qualification Bouts:
SF 1: Souleymen NASR (TUN) df. Sahid KARGBO (SLE), 11-0
SF 2: Ishak GHAIOU (ALG) df. Ando LEHTMETS (AUS), 5-1

77kg

Paris Qualification Bouts:
SF 1: Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN (EGY) df. Dean VAN ZYL (RSA), 9-0
SF 2: Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG) df. Yassine CHEKLY (MAR), 11-0

87kg

Paris Qualification Bouts:
SF 1: Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) df. Hakim TRABELSI (TUN), via cautions (13-9)
SF 2: Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) df. Roberto Mbaio NSANGUA (ANG), 8-0

97kg

Paris Qualification Bouts:
SF 1: Mohamed GABR (EGY) df. Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR), 10-0
SF 2: Fadi ROUABAH (ALG) df. Mohamed Skander MISSAOUI (TUN), 8-0

130kg

Paris Qualified Wrestlers

Amine GUENNICHI (TUN)
Oussama ASSAD (MAR)