#WrestleWarsaw

Live Blog: Poland Open Ranking Series, Day Three

By Eric Olanowski

Poland Open enters day three with women's wrestling in action in Warsaw on Thursday. Stars like Mariya STADNIK (AZE), Erica Wiebe (CAN), Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and many more will take the mat. (Day 2 Recap)

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Final Matches: (As they come in):
50kg - Oksana LIVACH (UKR) vs. Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
55kg -  Sumiya ERDENECHIMEG (MGL) vs. Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) 
62kg - Ana Paula GODINEZ GONZALEZ (CAN) vs. Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) 
65kg - Henna Katarina JOHANSSON (SWE) vs. Anastasiia LAVRENCHUK (UKR) 
76kg - Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) vs. Epp MAEE (EST) 

13:16: That does it for the morning session. We'll see you back here at 18:00 for Thursday's women's wrestling medal matches. 

12:36: Very limited action in that semifinal, but Rotter Focken holds on to criteria and reaches the finals with a 1-1 win over Olympic champ Wiebe. She'll take on the winner of Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) and Epp MAEE (EST).

12:22: I'm not sure how today flew by so fast, but we're already to the Day Three semifinals. We'll wrap up these final matches on each mat and roll right into today's semifinals. 

12:18: If there's such thing as too many world champions wrestling in one day, today is that day! One world champion walks off Mat A and another one walks on! Mat A welcomes Bulgaria's Taybe Yusein! 

12:15: What a show Tynybekova and Ovcharova are putting on! There are 18 points on the board already and we still have two minutes left to go!

12:05: World champion Aisuulu Tynybekova is coming up on Mat A. She's wrestling '19 world silver medalist Liubov OVCHAROVA (RUS).

12:04: Stadnik is on fire today. She's won both matches by technical superiority. 

12:03: Stadnik is back up again. She's wrestling Golston on Mat A. Stadnik scored two early takedowns and leads 4-0 after the opening 45 seconds.

11:51: Mae does it again! This time, she scored a takedown and won the match, 3-1.

11:46: Mae beat Olympic champion Vorobieva to win European gold a few months ago. The two are wrestling again on Mat C right now!

11:41: Olympic champion Erica Wiebe built a substantial lead over on Mat C. It looks like she's going to close things out with a 7-0 win over Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ). Weibe will wrestle the winner of Bout 119 (Mat A) between Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) and Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) 

11:31: Olympic bronze medalist and four-time world medalist -- including '13 world champion -- Maria SASTIN (HUN) are squaring off on Mat B. Amri leads 1-0 after the first period. 

11:27: Tynybekova Watch: She'll be up in seven matches on Mat A.

11:24: Quick suggestion: do not take down Stanik. Vuc took her down and led, 2-0. Stadnik proceeded to score 12 points in 25 seconds and moved into the quarterfinals where she'll wrestle the winner of Erin Simone GOLSTON (USA) and Weronika SIKORA (POL).

11:19: We have a rematch of the '19 world finals between Mariya STADNIK (AZE) and Emilia Alina VUC (ROU) going on on Mat A. 

11:15: For a second time this season, Olympic champion Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) defeats Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR). She also beat her in the finals of the European Olympic Qualifier. Today, the final score was 4-1 in favor of the Russian.

11:14: World bronze medalist Epp MAE (EST) is making her tournament debut on Mat A. This is her first competition since back since becoming Estonia's first woman to win gold at the European Championships. She's wrestling Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR). 

11:11: Good morning, wrestling fans! After two days of exciting days of wrestling, freestyle is in the rearview mirror.  Women's wrestling takes center stage on  Day Three in Poland.

#WrestleAlexandria

Ndum, Fafe repeat as African champs; Nigeria sweeps WW

By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 19) -- Egypt dominated Greco-Roman on day one of the senior African Championships with nine out of 10 gold medals and the team title. While it won the team title in Freestyle, it could not repeat the golden performance of the Greco team.

Egypt finished at the top of the podium with 205 points with Algeria finishing second with 170 points. Senegal finished third with 96 points. The three countries shared eight gold medals amongst themselves and the remaining two went to Guinea Bissau.

Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) and Bacar NDUM (GBS) became the African champions for the second time after winning the 57kg and 74kg gold medals respectively.

Iuna Fafe was defending his 57kg gold medal and opened his account with a 5-1 win over KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN). He followed that up with a fall over Omar FAYE (SEN) and then pinned Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR) in the final after leading 8-0.

Ndum, who won the 70kg title in 2022, won the gold medal at 74kg after blanking Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG), 10-0, in the final. But his first bout was a see-saw that he won 13-12 against Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY). Ndum had built a 7-0 lead in the first period but Abdelhady hit a beautiful reverse trip to score a four-pointer and then rolled Ndum three times to lead 10-7 with 1:04 left.

Ndum would put Abdelhady on his back for four before a reversal forced him to give up a point. Abdelhady led 11-11 on criteria when Ndum challenged and lost to give him a clear 12-11 lead with 31 seconds left.

That time was enough for Ndum to finish another takedown and lead 13-12 as he played out the final 18 seconds without further drama.

Iuna Fafe and Ndum will now look to earn a spot for Paris next weekend at the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers.

Egypt was carried by Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY) who won the 65kg gold medal after beating Zohier IFTENE (ALG), 8-6, in the final. At 86kg, Mohamed ABDELAAL (EGY) overcame Oussama ABDELLAOUI (ALG), 11-4 and won the gold medal.

Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) was far more convincing as he won his final against Ashton MUTUWA (NGR), 11-0. Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY) at 92kg earned the bronze medal in a three-wrestler bracket.

Tokyo Olympian Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) had moved to 61kg for the championships and won the gold medal in the new weight category. He defeated Didier DIATTA (SEN), 16-5, in a high-scoring final. In all likelihood, Kherbache will move to 57kg for the qualifiers.

Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG) added another gold medal for Algeria after he defeated Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 7-5, in the 70kg final as Algeria won its third gold medal of the night.

Pape NDIAYE (SEN) stunned everyone as he defeated Abdelrahman ABOUHEIBA (EGY), via fall, in the 97kg final. Ndiaye won all his bouts via technical superiority or via fall.

Nigeria sweeps

Nigeria won all five gold medals on offer as the Asian Championships ended. It had won four out of the five on Monday and added five more.

At 50kg, Mercy GENESIS (NGR) defeated Rosine NTSA ASSOUGA (CMR), via fall, to announce her name as the favorite to earn a Paris ticket at the qualifiers from  March 22 to 24.

Adijat IDRIS (NGR), Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR), Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR) and Ebi BIOGOS (NGR) won the gold medals at 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg.

With nine gold and one silver medal, Nigeria won the team title with 245 points out of the possible 250 points. Egypt finished second with 162 points while Tunisia is third with 140 points.

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RESULTS

Freestyle

57kg
GOLD: Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) df. Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR), via fall (8-0)

BRONZE: KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN) df. Omar FAYE (SEN), 2-1
BRONZE: Abdelrahman MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Alexander BUCKMAN (CPV), 10-0

61kg
GOLD: Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) df. Didier DIATTA (SEN), 16-5

BRONZE: Hassan ELSAYED (EGY) df. Reginaldo da SILVA (ANG), 10-0

65kg
GOLD: Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY) df. Zohier IFTENE (ALG), 8-6

BRONZE: Manaceu NGONDA (ANG) df. Sylvio DIATTA (SEN), 13-3
BRONZE: Stephen IZOLO (NGR) df. Gibriel CHOW (GAM), via walkover

70kg
GOLD: Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG) df. Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 7-5

BRONZE: Brendin LOUW (RSA) df. Ya Mouhamed NDONG (SEN), via fall (2-4)

74kg
GOLD: Bacar NDUM (GBS) df. Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG), 10-0

BRONZE: Joao BARBOSA (CPV) df. Jacques MONTY (CMR), 10-0
BRONZE: Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY) df. Arno VAN ZIJL (RSA), 11-7

79kg
GOLD: Chems FETAIRIA (ALG)
SILVER: Nasser SAYED (EGY)
BRONZE: Mohamed BEN JAAFAR (TUN)

86kg
GOLD: Mohamed ABDELAAL (EGY) df. Oussama ABDELLAOUI (ALG), 11-4

BRONZE: Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR) df. Mark ONGUYESI (KEN), 10-0
BRONZE: Matteo MONTEIRO (CPV) df. Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR), 5-3

92kg
GOLD: Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY)
SILVER: Issa RHIMI (TUN)
BRONZE: Yacine LAKROUT (ALG)

97kg
GOLD: Pape NDIAYE (SEN) df. Abdelrahman ABOUHEIBA (EGY), via fall (10-0)

BRONZE: Franck ANABA (CMR) df. Amoussou CAKPO (BEN), via inj. (4-1)

125kg
GOLD: Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) df. Ashton MUTUWA (NGR), 11-0

BRONZE: Justin VAN ZYL (RSA) df. Georges TCHADIE (CMR), via fall (4-0)
BRONZE: Modou FAYE (SEN) df. Djahid BERRAHAL (ALG), 15-4

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Mercy GENESIS (NGR) df. Rosine NTSA ASSOUGA (CMR), via fall

BRONZE: Nourhene HEDHLI (TUN) df. Matilda KOKERA (RSA), via fall
BRONZE: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Malak AHMED (EGY), 13-2

55kg
GOLD: Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
SILVER: Aya SOLIMAN (EGY)
BRONZE: Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN)

59kg
GOLD: Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
SILVER: Hana HUSSEIN (EGY)
BRONZE: Chahd JELJELI (TUN)

65kg
GOLD: Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR)
SILVER: Badawi HAMDOUN (EGY)
BRONZE: Ikome VIOLETTE NAMONDO (CMR)

72kg
GOLD: Ebi BIOGOS (NGR)
SILVER: AYA ICHAOUI (TUN)
BRONZE: Aimelda NDIFFO (SEN)