#WrestleSofia

LIVE BLOG: World Olympic Qualifiers, Day 1

By United World Wrestling Press

Sofia is set for the World Olympic Qualifiers -- the final chance for wrestlers to win a quota for the Tokyo Olympics. 12 tickets will be awarded on Thursday in freestyle wrestling.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Semifinal matches (stat time = 19:00)

57kg
SEMIFINAL - Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) vs. Reineri ANDREU ORTEGA (CUB)
SEMIFINAL - Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)  vs. Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL) 

65kg
SEMIFINAL - Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) vs. David HABAT (SLO)
SEMIFINAL -  Jordan Michael OLIVER (USA) vs. Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) 

74kg
SEMIFINAL - Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) vs. Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR) 
SEMIFINAL - Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) vs.  Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (BLR)

86kg 
SEMIFINAL - Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) vs. Boris MAKOEV (SVK) 
SEMIFINAL - Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) vs. Sohsuke TAKATANI (JPN) 

97kg 
SEMIFINAL - Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) vs. Ahmed Sultanovich BATAEV (BUL) 
SEMIFINAL -  Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR) vs. Albert SARITOV (ROU) 

125kg
SEMIFINAL - Jose Daniel DIAZ ROBERTTI (VEN) vs. Sumit SUMIT (IND) 
SEMIFINAL - Sergei KOZYREV (RUS) vs. Daniel LIGETI (HUN) 

15:05: There's the comeback of the competition thus far.  Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA) trailed European silver medalist Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR) by eight points but scored nine unanswered points and moved into the semifinals with a 9-8 victory.

14:53: What a second period! After trailing 3-0, Demirtas strung together six points in the second period and defeated world champion Cabalov, 6-3. 

14:35: We'll roll right into the quarterfinal matches -- starting with Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and Vladimir EGOROV (MKD). 

13:47: Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) continues to roll. He wins his second match of the day with a 12-5 win over Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO).

13: 37: Sergei KOZYREV (RUS), the last Russian freestyle looking for an Olympic berth, gave up the first takedown against Georgi IVANOV (BUL) but scored ten consecutive points and won the match, 12-2. He'll wrestle Robert BARAN (POL) in the 125kg quarterfinals.

13:11: Olympic bronze medalist Albert SARITOV (ROU) is on his way to Mat C to take on Radoslaw BARAN (POL). 

13:00: Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) cruised to the quarterfinals with a 10-0 shutout win over Razvan KOVACS (ROU). The two-time world medalist will square off against Vladimir EGOROV (MKD) for a spot in tonight's semifinals.

12:47: World champion Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) kick-started his day with an 11-0 throttling of Colombia's Nestor TAFUR. He'll take on Olympic bronze medalist Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)  ?? next!

12:23: Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) trailed George RAMM (GBR), 4-0, but went on a tear and scored 14 unanswered points. He moved into the 65kg 1/8 final against Wber CUERO MUNOZ (COL).

12:18: World champion Beka LOMTADZE (GEO), who is replacing Olympic champion Vlad KHINCHEGASHVILI (GEO) at 65kg, hangs on to beat Dillon WILLIAMS (CAN), 6-4. 

12:11: European champ T. SALKAZANOV (SVK) looked sharp in his opening-round match against Marc DIETSCHE (SWI). He scored eight consecutive points against and moved into the 1/8 finals with a 12-2 win.

Salkazanov will meet Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU) for a spot in the #WrestleSofia 74kg quarterfinals.

12:03: World champion Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) opens up his day with a 11-0 throttling of Nestor TAFUR (COL).

11:55: Upcoming wrestlers-to-match on Mat B:
Bout 62: ??Yuki TAKAHASHI
Bout 63: European ?Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI ??
Bout 64: ???Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT ??

11:50: European champion Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (BLR) is coming up in three matches on Mat C. He'll take on Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ).

11:49:  Sandro AMINASHVILI (GEO) survives to move into the 1/8 finals. He led Akhmed Adamovitch MAGAMAEV (BUL), 6-1, but surrendered four unanswered points and hung on to win, 6-5. He'll wrestle Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) next round.

11:44: Here we go! European champion Salkazanov is making his way to Mat A. 

11:35: We apologize for the technical difficulties, but we're back to action on Mat A. After what felt like an hour break, Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN) comes away with the win over Malik AMIN (SMR). Barraj will take on the winner of Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) and Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL).

10:43: World bronze medalist Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP) is wrestling Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA) over on Mat C.

10:29: Mat A has a world champion, a world silver medalist and the reigning European champion upcoming in the next ten matches. 

10:22: Reigning European champion Taimuraz SALKAZANOV ?? is coming up in seven matches on Mat A. The last time he took the mat, he scored improbable come-from-behind-wins against a two-time world champion, a world silver medalist and a U23 world champion. His opponent will be Marc DIETSCHE ??.

10:12: Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE) wins his opening-round matchup against Otari GOGAVA (GEO). The Georgian injury defaulted after trailing 4-0 with what appeared to be a lower body injury.

10:00: Welcome to Sofia! We are ready with freestyle action starting now. 57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg and 125kg will get two new Olympians by the end of the day.

#development

Finland looking for head coaching candidates

By United World Wrestling Press

HELSINKI, Finland (September 23) --- The Finnish Wrestling Federation is looking for a head coach and national team coaches for results-responsible positions for the 2025–2028 Olympics. We require the coach to have competence and commitment to the level of requirements of international top sports/youth coaching activities aimed at the top.

Duties and responsibilities of the Head Coach

  • Acts as the head of coaching and leads coaching activities (all forms of wrestling)
  • Responsible for LA2028 federation-led coaching of elite athletes (plans, daily coaching, competitions, camps, follow-up)
  • Responsible for success according to the goals, works closely with HUY, coaching centers and other important stakeholders
  • Responsible for the implementation of the national team activities of all forms of wrestling according to the budget (monitoring)
  • Developer of top coaching and participates in coach training.


The national team coach works full-time in contract-led coaching positions (e.g. top-level coach, youth national team coach) and in daily coaching. In addition to his own job, the OTO national team coach works in the coaching positions of the federation management according to the contract. The tasks and responsibilities of the national team coaches in question become clearer when the whole of the coaching is clear.

Responsibilities, tasks and other working conditions related to the content of the work are agreed upon in negotiations between the parties. The tasks, their fulfillment and the duration of the fixed-term contract depend on the commitments of the Olympic Committee's elite sports unit and other sponsors of the salary. An entity other than Painiliitto can also act as an employer. The work includes travel and evening and weekend work, and no separate compensation is paid for it.

If you are interested in the above-mentioned positions, please send a free-form application and a concise summary of your skills, education and experience by email to info@painiliitto.net by Friday, October 4, 2024.

Also, tell us your salary expectations and which positions you are interested in ( wrestling form, age group, full-time job, or working alongside your own job, etc. ). You can apply for several different positions with one application, as long as you tell us which positions you are interested in. Employment begins on January 1, 2025 or later, when case-specific salary funding has been confirmed.

Inquiries: Pekka Paavola, Chairman of the Wrestling Association (044 977 5287)