#WrestleWarsaw

Live Blog: Poland Open Ranking Series, Day Five

By Eric Olanowski

Greco-Roman action begins at Poland Open with five weight classes on the mat in Warsaw on Saturday. Keep an eye for the 77kg weight category.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Saturday's Finals Matches (As they come in):
67kg: Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) vs.  Murat FIRAT (TUR) 
77kg: Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) vs. Tamas LEVAI (HUN) 
82kg: Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) vs.Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB) 
130kg: Aliakbar Hossein YOUSOFIAHMADCHALI (IRI) vs. Amin Mohammadzaman MIRZAZADEH (IRI) 

12:32: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) upsets Vlasov's run and likely ends his quest at winning a third Olympic title. 

11:55: That's two matches up and two matches down for Vlasov. Through those matches, he's outscored his opponents 19-0. 

11:46: World champion Mantsigov is making his way to Mat A for his tournament debut against Yunus Emre BASAR (TUR). The winner of this match will square off against the winner of  Tamas LEVAI (HUN) and Sakke Petteri PUROLAINEN (FIN). 

11:30: That's a wrap for qualification-round matches. We're moving into the quarterfinals. We'll have four matches on each mat then roll right into the semifinals. 

11:20: Vlasov has made his way to Mat A for his opening round matchup against Oliver Marco KRUEGER (DEN).

11:02: Two-time Olympic champion Roman VLASOV (RUS) is fighting for the right to represent Russia at the Olympic Games at 77kg. He'll have outplace '19 world champion Abuiazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) today, then beat '18 world Aleksander CHERKHIRKIN (RUS) in a later-scheduled wrestle-off for the spot.

Vlasov will take the mat in two matches on Mat A.

11:00: We're about two minutes from going live in Poland. It looks like we'll have between 12-14 matches per mat during this morning's session. We'll start things off this morning with two-time world champion and London Olympic silver medalist Heiki NABI (EST) on Mat A. 

UWW and Iran sign MoU to bring Chouke under Associated Styles

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 20) — United World Wrestling and the Iran Wrestling Federation took a significant step to promote Choukhe, signing a four-year Memorandum of Understanding.

The MoU will enable both organizations to work together to promote and protect Chouke, a traditional form of wrestling, under the UWW Associated Styles.

Both UWW and the Iranian federation will also work to develop Chouke under their umbrella. This agreement's objective is to facilitate the protection, development, and promotion of Chouke. As per the agreement, both parties will hold regular meetings to exchange ideas and share knowledge.

Chouke is a traditional form of wrestling in Iran with wrestlers performing on mud in a marked circular ring. Each bout is of five minutes with more than one bout conducted at the same time. In case of a tie with a one-minute break, three minutes of extra time are added. Within three minutes, the wrestler who earns the first point will be the winner.

This style of wrestling does not allow the wrestler to touch his opponent's legs. The bout can only be fought with grips above the waist. There are different ways to score points in Chouke.

One point is awarded for a takedown, two points are awarded if a throw is completed outside the ring, and one if completed inside. Most other moves award only one point. A fall occurs when even one shoulder touches the ground.

Both wrestlers have to wear the official clothes to compete in Chouke. A t-shirt, a special jacket and a short are considered to be official outfit. The shirt must be long enough to go below the waist and the sleeves be long till the elbow. A strong cloth belt must be tied around the waist of the wrestlers and is fixed at the back and the wrestlers compete barefoot.

The old form of wrestling has a special place in Iranian history, and the agreement will help with its growth and development in Iran. UWW's commitment to work closely with the Iran federation for Chouke is in line with its vision to grow and promote all the traditional forms of the oldest form of the sport.