#WrestleBudapest

Malmgren Captures Important Budapest Gold, First in Two Years

Sunday, July 19, 2026 - 00:14 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 18) -- Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) did not know how her first bout in Budapest will go.

She was nervous as she is still trying to reach the peak of her wrestling, having spent most of the last year recovering from a neck injury.

Wrestling NISHU (IND) in her opening bout, Malmgren gave up a takedown but kept her composure to win 6-2. Once the initial nerves settled down, Malmgren was flowing.

Madison PARKS (CAN) was up next but Malmgren did not waste any time, getting a quick fall to enter the semifinals in which she faced European champion Andreea ANA (ROU). After the initial scare as Ana led 3-0, Malmgren regrouped and pinned Ana.

A marquee clash against world bronze medalist ANTIM (IND) was set. The Indian also had an exceptional day as she defeated Bianka FATH (HUN), Yuxuan LI (CHN)  and Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA) via technical superiority. In the semifinals, she defended a fall position for around two minutes against Asian champion Jin ZHANG (CHN) and later won 7-5.

However, Antim gave a walkover to Malmgren due to injury. Standing on top of the podium and collecting the gold medal Malmgren, is on the right path to recovery.

Asian champion at 57kg Kexin HONG (CHN) captured her second gold medal of the year by winning in Budapest. After a slow start in the final, Hong managed an easy takedown and then rolled Neha SHARMA (IND) on her back. She held the Indian on the mat till the fall was confirmed, finishing the bout in 1:36.

This was Hong's fourth dominant victory of the day. She began with a 10-0 win over Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN) in her opening bout before winning by similar score against Tokyo Olympic medalist Iryna
KURACHKINA (BLR). In the semifinals, she posted another 10-0 technical superiority win over Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE).

The 72kg weight class had only four wrestlers and European silver medalist Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) emerged as the gold medalist after she won all three of her bouts. After beating  Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ) and Diksha MALIK (IND), she faced Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) in Round 3.

Bakbergenova was called passive in the first period and Choluj got a point, the only point of the period. When she was on the activity clock in the second period, Choluj brought Bakbergenova down for four points and then turned her for two more to lead 7-0.

Choluj gave up a takedown as Bakbergenova cut the lead to 7-2 with 45 seconds remaining. But hopes of a miraculous comeback were dashed when Choluj escaped an attempted attack from the Kazakhstan wrestler and she scored a takedown and two turns to win 13-2.

This was Choluj's second straight Ranking Series gold medal as she had won the 72kg gold at the Ulaanbaatar Open as well. 

In a comical ending at 76kg, Dymond GUILFORD (USA) celebrated a little too early when she won a challenge and thought she won 3-3 on criteria against KAJAL (IND). However, it was the Indian who held the criteria and won gold.

Guilford scored a stepout and Kajal was docked a point for fleeing, giving the American a 2-0 lead. She was then put on the activity clock in the second which gave Kajal her first point before she added an impressive takedown to lead 3-2 with 13 seconds remaining.

A powerful underhook from Guilford dragged Kajal out-of-bounds which was not scored a stepout as the time expired. However, on review, the stepout was in time and the score changed to 3-3. Guilford celebrated with a dance thinking she won on last-point criteria.

However, as Kajal had a two-point move compared to three one-point moves of Guilford, she held the bigger-technique criteria, giving her the gold medal.

Two more Greco-Roman weight classes were competed on Saturday, with Georgia and Russia winning gold medals at 72kg and 87kg respectively.

Nika BROLADZE (GEO) put on an electric performance in the 72kg final to beat U23 European champion Rabil ASKEROV (RUS), 10-0. He got the first point after a challenge as Askerov stepped out first but the referees had awarded the Russian a point.

Askerov tried to drag Broladze around but the Georgian managed to defended the drag and scored a takedown to lead 3-0 before launching Askerov for four points. He continued the action and rolled him for two more points for a 9-0 score.

Russia challenged the scoring but Broladze made clear moves and the scoring was upheld upon review. The lost challenge added another point to Broladze's score who won 10-0.

At 87kg, Islam ALIEV (RUS) and Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS) reached the final but the former won gold after Alirzaev pulled out of the final due to an injury, giving gold to Aliev.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

53kg
GOLD: Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) df. ANTIM (IND), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Jin ZHANG (CHN) df. Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA), 5-2
BRONZE: NISHU (IND) df. Andreea ANA (ROU), 2*-2

57kg
GOLD: Kexin HONG (CHN) df. Neha SHARMA (IND), via fall (4-0)

BRONZE: Amanda MARTINEZ (USA) df. Giullia PENALBER (BRA), 6-4
BRONZE: Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) df. Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE), 9-2

72kg
GOLD: Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
SILVER: Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
BRONZE: Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)

76kg
GOLD: KAJAL (IND) df. Dymond GUILFORD (USA), 3*-3

BRONZE: Shuiyan CHENG (CHN) df. Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU), 10-0
BRONZE: Wenji LI (CHN) df. PRIYA (IND), 5-3

Greco-Roman

72kg
GOLD: Nika BROLADZE (GEO) df. Rabil ASKEROV (RUS), 10-0

BRONZE: Mishiko ALEKSANDRIA (GEO) df. ANIL (IND), 5-2
BRONZE: Krisztian VANCZA (HUN) df. Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: Islam ALIEV (RUS) df. Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) df. Matej MANDIC (CRO), 5-3
BRONZE: Tamas LEVAI (HUN) df. Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ), via inj. def.  

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov wins gold; Sujeet, Suda champions in Budapest

Thursday, July 17, 2025 - 08:07 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 17) -- The final Ranking Series of the season begins Thursday in Budapest with seven Freestyle weight classes -- 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 79kg, 97kg and 125kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | FREESTYLE PREVIEW

19:55: Bahrain gets a second gold medal as Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) hangs on for a 5-3 win over Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW) in the 125kg final.

19:35: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) makes it another 11-0 victory and wins gold medal at 97kg. That is his fourth technical superiority win today. Since his Paris gold, Tazhudinov wrestled in Spain and won gold and now adds a second in two weeks.

19:10: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is so good in his defense and he uses it to great effect and beats Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) 5-0 and takes the gold medal at 79kg at the Budapest Ranking Series.

18:35: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) wins Ranking Series gold medal at 70kg after beating Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) 8-0 in the final. Just a really strong performance overall as he gets ready for World Championships.

18:10: SUJEET (IND) gives India a Ranking Series gold medal in Freestyle after beating Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE). A bit of Bajrang PUNIA (IND) in Sujeet as he only gives up a activity point in the first period and upped the pace in the second scoring two takedowns and point for activity to win the gold medal.

17:45: Takara SUDA (JPN) with a buzzer-beating four-pointer in the 61kg final to win gold medal! Suda was down 3-1 against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) with 10 seconds remaining. Suda snaps Zhumashbek Uulu and then brings him down on the mat. Zhamashbek Uulu tries to defend but in clearly on his back and Suda has control. Suda is awarded a 3-3 criteria win.

Kyrgyzstan challenges but that is awarded four points to Suda and he wins 5-3

17:20: Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) is the champion at 57kg after he pulls off a takedown in the last 25 seconds against Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE). Both wrestlers exchanged activity points and Lilledahl led 1-1 on criteria but he scored a takedown to pull off a clear 3-1 victory.

17:00: The medal bouts in all weight classes begin now. The bronze medals will be held on Mat B and C while the gold-medal bout will be on Mat B.

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Day 1 Semifinal Report

Olympic champions Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), who wrestled at the Grand Prix of Spain last week in his first tournament since Paris Olympics, reached the 97kg final at the Budapest Ranking Series on Thursday.

Wrestling only in his third-ever Ranking Series, Tazhudinov posted three straight technical superiority wins and entered the final against Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

Opening his day with a 14-2 win, Tazhudinov manhandled Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) and capitalized on the half-hearted attacks of the French wrestler. He hit a big double-leg attack for four points but Viskhanov got two points for exposure.

But that was only opening Tazhudinov allowed for the rest of the bout. Viskhanov tried a few leg attacks but Tazhudinov scored a takedown and two turns to be up 10-2 before an arm-bar attempt turned into takedown for his win.

Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) was next and Tazhudinov needed just a minute to beat him. In the semifinals, he took 1 minute and 48 seconds to see off Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), 10-0.

Baranowski had a contradictory run to the final as he won 6-6 on criteria against Jonathan AIELLO (USA) before a 7-5 victory over VICKY (IND) in the quarterfinals. He improved the score line to 7-3 in the semifinal against Juhwan SEO (KOR).

In other weight classes, world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) needed two last-second wins in quarterfinals and semifinals to book a place in the final. He defeated Niklas STECHELE (GER) 4-2 with a pushout in the last second and then handed RAHUL (IND) a 7-6 loss with a takedown in the final moments.

He will take on Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) for the gold medal after the Azerbaijan wrestler beat Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), 5-2.

Asian champion at 61kg Takara SUDA (JPN) showed why he one of the medal threats at the World Championships in Zagreb. Suda wrestled two bouts before reaching the final and won them without much trouble. He began with a 12-2 win over Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and then posted a 4-3 win over Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ).

He will face Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final after the Kyrgyzstan beat his compatriot Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ), 3-2. A win against Suda in the final can be a huge confidence booster for the Kyrgyz wrestler.

At 65kg, SUJEET (IND) was a surprise finalist after he got the better of Paris Olympic medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 11-0, and then beat Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), 6-1, in the semifinals.

He will take on Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE) in the final who defeated Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN), 9-2, in the other semifinal.

At 70kg, Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) and Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM) set up the final which will be a clash between two continental silver medalists. Aoyagi was in red-hot form in Budapest and outscored his opponents 28-3 before the final.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), after his small quest at 86kg, returned to 79kg and made it to the final in Budapest after a 2-0 win over Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) in the semifinal. He will face Asian silver medalist Magomet EVLOEV (TJK) in the final. The Tajik stunned Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) in the semifinal using a cradle in just 21 seconds.

Kougioumtsidis dominated his matches till the semifinals but could not stop Evloev from finishing the cradle and had to make his way to the bronze-medal bout instead of gold.