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Live Blog: #WrestleBudapest European Championships Day 5

Friday, April 1, 2022 - 08:56 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (April 1) -- The European Championships move into the fifth day with some Greco-Roman. Five weight classes will see wrestlers take the mat.

Four-time world champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR), Oslo world champ Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB), Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) and Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO) are some of the big names that are competing Friday.

MATCH ORDER | WATCH LIVE

14:20: Final bout of the morning session coming up as Per OLOFSSON (SWE) takes on Ciro RUSSO (ITA) in the 77kg quarterfinal. Olofsson with a huge four and he is looking for the pin. Russo tries hard but pin is confirmed.

14:10: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) has beaten Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) once again. A total mental block from the Serbian world champ in the final minute as Abbasov manages to defend his lead and win 5-3

14:08: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) beats Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) 6-5 to reach the semifinal at 77kg. Huge win for Amoyan

14:03: Abbasov scores from par terre but Datunashvili gets the throw as well. It's 5-3 with Datunashvili's lead. Challenge from Abbasov. The first two from Abbasov using a head pinch are confirmed. And it's a leg foul from Datunashvili. 5-1 for Abbasov.

14:02: Datunashvili is leading 1-1 against Abbasov with 1:40 remaining in the bout. He is called passive for the second time and Abbasov now has the chance to score for the win

14:00: World champ Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) is wrestling silver medalist Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) on Mat C. He gets the first passivity point and then gets the lock over Suleymanov to score four points. 

13:55: Zurabi Datunashvili and Islam Abbasov are wrestling on Mat A in the 87kg quarterfinals. Abbasov stunned world champ Datunashvili in Istanbul in February in the final.

13:50: Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN) with the first five of the day and he finishes his bout against Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) 8-0

13:45: That's a victory by technical superiority for Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) over Denis MIHAI (ROU) at 55kg and he books his place in the 55kg semifinals.

13:36: Victor CIOBANU (MDA) led 1-1 against Etienne KINSINGER (GER) with a minute remaining but was called passive. Kinsinger gets the turn from par terre to beat Ciobanu 3-1

13:30: Riza KAYAALP (TUR) and Beka KANDELAKI (AZE) have setup the semifinal at 130kg. A month ago, Kandelaki had pinned Kayaalp at the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series event in Istanbul.

13:18: Olympic silver medalist Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) is wrestling Franz RICHTER (GER) at 130kg. Richter led 2-1 at the break and then added a takedown in the second period to upset Kajaia in the quarterfinals

13:11: Nemes gets another chance as Levai is called passive but he can't score again. Levai holds on for a 3-1 win at 77kg.

13:10: Viktor NEMES (SRB) and Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) are involved in an intense battle. Nemes got the 1-0 lead after the passivity against Levai. But he is called passive in the second period and Levai leads 1-1. He gets the gut-wrench from par terre to make it 3-1

12:55: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) is looking formidable at 77kg. He wins his second bout 5-1 over Denis HORVATH (SVK) to move into the quarterfinal

12:46: Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) gets the point for Ilie COJOCARI (ROU) passivity. He then gets the four from par terre to lead 5-0. He adds two more takedowns and wins 9-0 

12:45: Datunashvili is called passive again. But no points as this is the third passivity. Szilvassy has a chance to take the lead. But he fails to that. Datunashvili has 35 seconds to defend for the win. Szilvassy drops the bout 1-1

12:40: Datunashvili is called passive first but Szilvassy cannot score any points from par terre. The Hungarian leads 1-0 at the break. Szilvassy gets called passive and it's 1-1 with Datunashvili leading on criteria.

12:35: World champion Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB) is coming up on Mat A for his opening round bout against former U23 world champion Erik SZILVASSY (HUN).

12:30: Can Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN) win the gold he missed at the U23 Europeans? He begins with a 9-0 win over Damian VON EUW (SUI) at 87kg

12:15: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) makes his 77kg debut after winning the world gold at 72kg with a technical superiority win over Mantas SINKEVICIUS (LTU) in the opening round

11:55: Victor CIOBANU (MDA) with a huge technical superiority win over Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB). Can the 60kg world champion become a European champ at 63kg?

11:50: What a great start to the day. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE) moves on with a 10-0 win over Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) and Riza KAYAALP (TUR) does the same with a 9-0 win over Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU).

11:30: Welcome to day five of the European Championships. Greco-Roman wrestling is beginning and the stands are already full here

#wrestlemanama

Bahrain to host 2026 World Championships

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 12:02 By United World Wrestling Press

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- For the first time in history, the World Championships are headed to Bahrain.

The 2026 World Championships will be held in Manama, Bahrain from October 24 November 1, United World Wrestling announced on Tuesday, during the ongoing World Championships in Zagreb.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

Secretary General of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Faris AL-KOOHEJI attended the press conference at the Arena Zagreb for the historic announcement. UWW President Nenad LALOVIC and Al-Kooheji announced the host together and signed the agreement.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Lalovic said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision.

Bahrain won its first-ever gold medal in Olympics in Paris when Tahzudinov ran-through the 97kg weight class and captured the gold medal. A year before that, he won the world title in the same weight class.

Tazhudinov is also an Asian champion, Asian Games champion and winner of other Ranking Series events.

Lalovic on the fact that wrestling wants to change the host continent of the World Championships more regularly.

 "We also want to change the continent regularly," he said. "A state that can organize the Asian [Youth] Games like they will do now in October, they will not face any problem with the championships, especially that we give all the assistance possible for the execution"

Manama, Bahrain will host the Asian Youth Games in which wrestling will be held from October 28 to 30.

Expressing its gratitude to UWW and readiness to host the mega event, Al-Kooheji said that the tournament will help Bahrain take wrestling to the grassroot levels in the country.

"For us, wrestling is a long term project," Al-Kooheji said. "Wrestling is a growing sport. It's a strategic sport for us. We got a gold medal in Paris, and we're looking to getting more medals. That gold medal started to inspire a lot of people, locally, to pursue wrestling, which is why part of the discussions with United World Wrestling is to even help us add wrestling in schools."

The Bahrain Olympic Committee expects that the World Championships will have a positive impact in growing the sport in the country.

"Strong economic impact [from the event]," he said. "We're going to get lots of travel spectators from Iran, the United States, and other countries as well. It's going to encourage the local community. They will understand more wrestling."