Obituary

Nico Coetzee, UWW Educator and Head Coach of South African Wrestling, Dies at 56

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 27) -- Nico Coetzee, head wrestling coach of South Africa and UWW Educator, died suddenly on Tuesday. He was 56.

Coetzee was active in all aspects of wrestling in Africa. He was the head wrestling coach for South Africa since 2009, and for the past several years was a UWW Instructor tasked with assisting in the education and development of wrestling across the continent.

"We are deeply saddened to learn of Nico's death," said United World Wrestling president Nenad LALOVIC. "He was one of the sport's best leaders on Africa and we will miss his input. I send my condolences to his family, his wrestlers, and all those who called him a friend."

Coetzee grew up in the then small-town Boksburg, in South Africa. After finishing school, he completed his Honours Degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Pretoria. At school Coetzee participated in long distance running, rugby, boxing, and wrestling.

When his son was born, Coetzee's passion for wrestling, and specifically coaching, was ignited. He joined the Boksburg Wrestling Club as a coach and climbed the ladder to coaching excellence very fast. In 2006 he became the provincial head coach and three years later became the head coach for the South African Wrestling Federation.

In 2019, coach Coetzee was awarded the Gauteng Sports Coach of the Year. He had been instrumental in the development of the National Coaching Framework of the South African National Olympic Committee, SASCOC, now SASCA (The South African Sports Coaching Association), where he was elected a board member.

In addition to his many leadership roles in South Africa, Coetzee was also a sport-specific mentor for the WSLA High-Performance Coach program, which provides leadership training opportunities to women in sport.

"Nico was a lovely man and oversaw several projects developing wrestling on the continent and around the world," said Development Director Deqa Niamkey  "I always appreciated his positivity and energy. He's the kind of person who really did make a difference in our sport and used it as a way to enhance humanity as a whole."

"We are devastated."

#wrestlebishkek

Asian U20 Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (July 4) -- The Asian U20 Championships begins on July 9 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Around 300 wrestlers are expected to participate in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

The competition will begin with Greco-Roman followed by Women's Wrestling and Freestyle will close off the competition on July 13. For full schedule of the Asian U20 Championships, click here.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change 72 hours before the draws of each style. For final entries and brackets, refer to UWW Arena.

Freestyle

57kg
Wanxing LYU (CHN)
ANKUSH (IND)
Arshia HADDADI (IRI)
Rikuto NAGAI (JPN)
Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ)
Azim ABDYKALYKOV (KGZ)
Inseong BAK (KOR)
Naran Ulzii BARKHAS (MGL)
Hayden ANCHETA (PHI)
Saihusein MALIKOV (TJK)
Kabe MATJANOV (TKM)
Chih Kai LU (TPE)
Asadbek SAIDTURAEV (UZB)

61kg
Jiayu HUANG (CHN)
Anuj VISHNOI (IND)
Abolfazl BAKHSHOUDEH (IRI)
Hyuga SATONAKA (JPN)
Allan ORALBEK (KAZ)
Askat TOKTOMATOV (KGZ)
Davaadorj ARIUNBOLD (MGL)
Muhammad WAHAB (PAK)
Ahlidin JABOROV (TJK)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Abdulloh KHABIBULLAEV (UZB)

65kg
Yufei DING (CHN)
ASHWANI (IND)
Sajad PIRDAYEH (IRI)
Shina YASUMI (JPN)
Yeraly ZHENISSOV (KAZ)
Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ)
Jongpil YOON (KOR)
Janchivdorj TUVDUU (MGL)
Muhammad ABDULLAH (PAK)
Ali AL MUTAWA (QAT)
Hakim GHOIBZODA (TJK)
Bagtyyar ANNAYEV (TKM)
You Wei LAI (TPE)
Komiljon YUSUFOV (UZB)

70kg
Jinrui LIU (CHN)
SOURABH (IND)
Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI)
Ariya YOSHIDA (JPN)
Sungkar SEIDAKHMET (KAZ)
Zalkarbek TABALDIEV (KGZ)
Ankh Erdene ALTANGEREL (MGL)
Sohail KHAN (PAK)
Muhammadfoteh OLIMOV (TJK)
Batyr BEGENJOV (TKM)
Javokhir CHULIBOYEV (UZB)

74kg
Jinpeng ZHU (CHN)
VIVEK (IND)
Mohammad MAMIVAND (IRI)
Yujin TAKIZAWA (JPN)
Dosszhan KUL GAIYP (KAZ)
Ilim ZHUMABEKOV (KGZ)
Yong SHIN (KOR)
Burenjargal BATBAYAR (MGL)
Saad AL SULAITI (QAT)
Muhammadamin ABDULOEV (TJK)
Vatan ANNAORAZOV (TKM)
Jeng CHUAN (TPE)
Umarkhon MUYDINOV (UZB)

79kg
Guanpeng XIAO (CHN)
AMIT (IND)
Abolfazl Mehdi SHAMSIPOUR (IRI)
Natsura OKAZAWA (JPN)
Askhab KHAJIYEV (KAZ)
Zhakshylyk BAITASHOV (KGZ)
Gan Erdene BAATARKHUU (MGL)
Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Jorullo ABDUFATTOKHOV (UZB)

86kg
Chunchen LIU (CHN)
SACHIN (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Rintaro INOUE (JPN)
Navruz AKHMEDKHANOV (KAZ)
Elnur AKYBAEV (KGZ)
Juhwan LEE (KOR)
Ganbat TSERENPUNTSAG (MGL)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Nodirbek ABDULLAEV (UZB)

92kg
Iqbal AHMADI (AFG)
Hairui YUE (CHN)
SACHIN (IND)
Toohid NOORY (IRI)
Yuya YOSHIDA (JPN)
Samir DURSUNOV (KAZ)
Iakov CHAPLIN (KGZ)
Bayarbaatar ERDENEMUNKH (MGL)
Orazmuhammet HOJALYYEV (TKM)
Sherzod POYONOV (UZB)

97kg
Jiawei LI (CHN)
VISHAL (IND)
Erfan ALIZADEH (IRI)
Genki HOKI (JPN)
Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ)
Aitenir MAKSATOV (KGZ)
Yujun LEE (KOR)
Temuujin ENKHMEND (MGL)
Muhammetdurdy MUHAMMETDURDYYEV (TKM)
Mukhammadjon ISMOILJONOV (UZB)

125kg
Maysam SHAH QOL (AFG)
Ruijie LI (CHN)
Jaspooran SINGH (IND)
Mohammadreza LOTFI (IRI)
Akinari ORIYAMA (JPN)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Sulde DONGAK (KGZ)
Baejoon JANG (KOR)
Narantulga DARMAABAZAR (MGL)
Eldorbek KHASANOV (UZB)

Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI)Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI) is the defending champion at Greco-Roman 130kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Zongyao WU (CHN)
NITIN (IND)
Payam AHMADI (IRI)
Masatora HONDA (JPN)
Yerassyl MUSSAN (KAZ)
Kutman KALBAEV (KGZ)
Nuryagdy DOVRANOV (TKM)
Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB)

60kg
Dahua XIONG (CHN)
SURAJ (IND)
Seyediman HOSSEINI (IRI)
Sota SAKAKI (JPN)
Alpamys BOLATULY (KAZ)
Erbol OZGONOV (KGZ)
Jueui YANG (KOR)
Muteb ALMUWALLAD (KSA)
Abbosjon TURAQULOV (TJK)
Husniddin ULUGBEKOV (TKM)
Shu Wei CHUNG (TPE)
Khurshidbek NORMUKHAMMADOV (UZB)

63kg
Xiaoli FAN (CHN)
VARUN (IND)
Mohammad ABOUTALEBI (IRI)
Kazuto FURUICHI (JPN)
Yesbol SHAMILOV (KAZ)
Emirlan DUISHENALIEV (KGZ)
Haitham BARAHMAH (KSA)
Muhammadjon ABDULOEV (TJK)
Kemal KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Ming Han SHEN (TPE)
Sardor KHOLMURZAEV (UZB)

67kg
Zhengye HAN (CHN)
YOGESH (IND)
Gholamreza ABDOVALI (IRI)
Taisei MAEDA (JPN)
Alibek TURLYGAZY (KAZ)
Zhantoro MIRZALIEV (KGZ)
Mingun JEONG (KOR)
Sunat ABDULLOEV (TJK)
Ding Jen HUANG (TPE)
Fayozbek ESHMIRZAEV (UZB)

72kg
Rihao YAN (CHN)
Akash PUNIA (IND)
Amir SAEIDI (IRI)
Kento NOMURA (JPN)
Alikhan DURSUNOV (KAZ)
Ilgis KANYBEKOV (KGZ)
Anvarjon JURAEV (TJK)
Kaka CHARYYEV (TKM)
Ahmad KODIROV (UZB)

77kg
Wentao RAO (CHN)
Sachin KUMAR (IND)
Ahoura BOUVEIRI PIANI (IRI)
Fuga MISAIZU (JPN)
Omar DUISEMBEK (KAZ)
Adilet ABYKEEV (KGZ)
Juwan CHOI (KOR)
Ali A MAJRASHI (KSA)
Kemal BERDILIYEV (TKM)
Jeng Jung CHUAN (TPE)
Bekmurod RUSTAMOV (UZB)

82kg
Zheying SONG (CHN)
PRINCE (IND)
Alireza MOHAMMAD (IRI)
Aito TANGE (JPN)
Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ)
Mirsaid IUNUSOV (KGZ)
Majd M HAWSAWI (KSA)
Azimjon SOATULLAEV (UZB)

87kg
Xinyu LIU (CHN)
ROHIT (IND)
Hamidreza KESHTKAR (IRI)
Rondo KODAMA (JPN)
Temirlan TURDAKYN (KAZ)
Asylbek NIIAZBEK UULU (KGZ)
Kangju LEE (KOR)
Chen Feng SUNG (TPE)
Bobur ABDURASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Yikai KAN (CHN)
NAMAN (IND)
Mohammad SEYDI (IRI)
Koki MATSUMOTO (JPN)
Beibit KORGANOV (KAZ)
Rustam SADYKOV (KGZ)
Jaeno CHOI (KOR)
Javohir KHUJAEV (UZB)

130kg
Yeersheng YEERGEN (CHN)
Joginder RATHEE (IND)
Abolfazl FATHITAZANGI (IRI)
Taiki IWASAWA (JPN)
Ilya BORODAY (KAZ)
Talasbek BOOBEKOV (KGZ)
Seunggyu MIN (KOR)
Amirkhon BERDIKULOV (UZB)

Mansi LATHER (IND)Senior Asian Championships bronze medalist Mansi LATHER (IND) is aiming for her first Asian U20 gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari) 

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Shenyu LIU (CHN)
SHRUTI (IND)
Mai OGAWA (JPN)
Medina KUANYSHBEK (KAZ)
Dilnaz ABDYKADYROVA (KGZ)
Nilufar NURMUKHAMMADOVA (UZB)

53kg
Xiaole HAN (CHN)
SAARIKA (IND)
Mihoko TAKEUCHI (JPN)
Farida ABDRAKHMANOVA (KAZ)
Aziza KELDIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Roeun SONG (KOR)
Ya Hsin CHEN (TPE)
Khusniobod SULTANNAZIROVA (UZB)

55kg
Huiyi WEI (CHN)
REENA (IND)
Yuna SAWATANI (JPN)
Aida ALZHAN (KAZ)
Aziza SHUMKAROVA (KGZ)
Odonchimeg TSEVEEN (MGL)
Yi Hsuan TSENG (TPE)
Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)

57kg
Xinyu WANG (CHN)
Neha SHARMA (IND)
Rin KINOSHITA (JPN)
Anna STRATAN (KAZ)
Akylai SATYBAEVA (KGZ)
Eunso CHO (KOR)
Yu Hsuan CHENG (TPE)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

59kg
YANGJIBAZONG (CHN)
Ashlesha BAGADE (IND)
Sae NOGUCHI (JPN)
Akmarzhan MAYABAS (KAZ)
Aidai NURUDINOVA (KGZ)
Erdenebolor LKHAGVASUREN (MGL)
Kai Yi LI (TPE)
Ulbiyke KARLYBAEVA (UZB)

62kg
Zhengwei MA (CHN)
ANJLI (IND)
Hana YOSHIKAWA (JPN)
Sofya ZMAZNEVA (KAZ)
Manzura ZHUSUEVA (KGZ)
Yeyeon LEE (KOR)
Gundegmaa ENKHBAATAR (MGL)
Tzu Ling WU (TPE)
Nigina SABIROVA (UZB)

65kg
Sangquzhen GE (CHN)
MUSKAN (IND)
Ayana HISHINUMA (JPN)
Kyzzhibek ZHARKYNBAYEVA (KAZ)
Asel ZHAPAROVA (KGZ)
Narkhajid NYAMSUREN (MGL)
Kang Yu CHIANG (TPE)
Mukhayyo NARZILLOEVA (UZB)

68kg
Wenjin QIU (CHN)
Mansi LATHER (IND)
Haruka KOBARU (JPN)
Uldana TILEUKHAN (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Yeonwoo SONG (KOR)
Odgerel ERDENE OCHIR (MGL)
Enejan YOLDASHOVA (TKM)
Sheng Fang CAI (TPE)
Iroda TURDYMURATOVA (UZB)

72kg
Yawen WEI (CHN)
HARSHITA (IND)
Ai SAKAI (JPN)
Meiramgul MAKSOT (KAZ)
Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)
Oyun Erdene ENKHBAATAR (MGL)
Nazik BAZAROVA (TKM)
Saodat TURAEVA (UZB)

76kg
Saihan AO (CHN)
KAJAL (IND)
Chisato YOSHIDA (JPN)
Meruyert NAZARBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aizharkyn ZHANYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Tuvshinjargal TARAV (MGL)
Gulnaz BAKYYEVA (TKM)
Sevinchoy POLVONOVA (UZB)