#WrestleBelgrade

Live Blog, U23 World Championships Day 4: WW 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg, 72kg

Thursday, November 4, 2021 - 08:59 By Vinay Siwach

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BELGRADE, Serbia (November 4) -- Day four of the U23 World Championships and we are continuing with women's wrestling as five more weight classes are in action. Wrestlers from 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg and 72kg will try to reach the semifinal at the end of the day.

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1315: Excellent session of women's wrestling at the U23 World Championships. All five Ukraine wrestlers reach the semifinals. Russia has 3 while Turkey and Italy have 2 each. Eight other nationals have one wrestler each

1310: Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) lives up to the billing at 57kg. She pins NITIKA (IND) and enters the semifinal. She looks unstoppable here in Belgrade

1255: Othelie HOEIE (NOR) is heading to the semifinal at 57kg. She secures a victory via fall over Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR). The Norway camp is ecstatic

1240: Nigeria brought one competitor for the women's part of the U23 Worlds and she has reached the semifinal. Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) gives no chance to Amanda MARTINEZ (USA) and wins 11-0 at 57kg

1230: What a start for Euro U23 silver Zeynep YETGIL (TUR). She reaches the 53kg semifinals with a pin in the first period. She is looking for a second medal at the U23 Worlds after a bronze in the last edition.

1215: Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA) marches on! She beats Emma BRUNTIL (USA) with technical superiority and reaches the semifinal here in the U23 Worlds.

1150: Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) could not have started on a better note. A huge pin to begin with against Hannah TAYLOR (CAN). She makes it look so easy

1125: A couple of upsets early here. Two-time Asian champion Divya KAKRAN (IND) falls 4-13 against Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR). She could never get her double leg attack used to get the fall. On Mat B, unheralded Kendra DACHER (FRA) beats junior world silver Lilly SCHNEIDER with technical superiority. Great technique from Dacher to block and counter Schneider

1100: Big wins for Bruntil and Paulava. On Mat B, Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA) pins Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR) who looks in pain after that bout. Nice gesture from Campagna to check on her opponent after the win

1045: We kick off proceedings of the qualification round with Emma BRUNTIL (USA) taking on Yagmur CAKMAK (TUR). Big bout on Mat A as Tatsiana PAULAVA (BLR) takes on Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)

1030: Welcome to day four of the U23 World Championships from the Belexpocentar in Belgrade. It's a windy day here in the Serbian capital but the mats have been sanitized, the wrestlers have warmed up and we are ready for action

Saitiev, three-time Olympic champion, passes away aged 49

Sunday, March 2, 2025 - 17:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 2) -- Wrestling legend, three-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time world champion Buvaisar SAITIEV passed away Sunday. He was 49 years old and nine days short of his 50th birthday.

Saitiev was buried in the village of Novokuli in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan on Tuesday, March 4.

Saitiev, widely considered the best Freestyle wrestler of all time, was born in Dagestan but moved to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia to train at the Mindiashvili wrestling academy under the legendary coach Dmitri Mindiashvili.

The 49-year-old announced his retirement soon after winning his third Olympic title in Beijing 2008. His other two titles came in 1996 Atlanta Olympics and 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, Brandon SLAY (USA) defeated him.

Apart from the world and Olympic titles, Saitiev was six-time European champion.

 

United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC expressed his shock on the untimely passing of Saitiev.

"The wrestling family is in shock with the passing of Saitiev," Lalovic said. "He was a legend of the sport and we lost him at a very young age of 49. Saitiev inspired wrestlers around the world and many took up the sport because of him. It's an unrepairable loss to the wrestling community and we are with the Saitiev family during this time of grief."

In 2007, Saitiev was awarded as the best Freestyle wrestler in history by UWW [then FILA].

Wrestling majorly in the 74kg weight class, Saitiev stood at 183 centimetres and made his World Championships debut in Atlanta, 1995. A year later, he won the gold medal at 74kg at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He became world champion in 1997 and 1998 but did not participate in 1999. He lost to Slay in early rounds of the 2000 Sydney Olympics and finished ninth.

But he captured the gold medals again at the 2001 and 2003 World Championships and returned to the top at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He became the world champion in 2005 and 2006 and claimed his third Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.