#WrestleHammamet

Nigerian Women Nab Five African Golds, Egypt Grabs Six GR Titles

Saturday, March 30, 2019 - 20:17 By Eric Olanowski

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HAMMAMET, Tunisia (March 30) – For the third consecutive year, Nigerian women ignited for at least five African gold medals and nabbed the women’s wrestling team title. Nigeria’s women, who finished with 195 points, swiped medals in nine of ten weights and had five wrestlers reach the top of the podium at the African Championships in Hammamet, Tunisia. 

The five Nigerian gold medalists were Miesinnei GENESIS (50kg), Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (57kg), Sunmisola BALOGUN (65kg), Blessing OBORUDUDU (68kg), and Blessing ONYEBUCHI (76kg). 

Odunayo Adekuroye, the 2017 world silver medalist, was the only Nigerian wrestler to win a non-Nordic style bracket. In the 57kg finals, Adekuroye used a cross-ankle pick to score the 29-second fall over Cameroon’s Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO, picking up her fourth consecutive continental title. 

The other four gold medalists won their titles by going undefeated in the round robin competitions. 

Meanwhile, the host nation of Tunisia (177 points), led by their 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist Marwa AMRI finished in second place with a pair of champions. Tunisia’s two winners were Amri and Faten HAMMAMI. 

In what was expected to be the women’s wrestling bout of the night, 62kg, Amri dumped Aminat ADENIYI (NGR) to her back and scored the early first-period fall. Amri’s title-winning performance on Saturday night in Hammamet gave her an eleventh continental title. She now holds ten African Championship gold medals and one African Games title. 

Faten Hammami won Tunisia’s second women’s wrestling gold medal after going undefeated in the 55kg Nordic bracket. 

The third-place finishers, Egypt (160 points), won gold medals in three Nordic weight categories. Their three champions were Hala AHMED, Eman EBRAHIM, and Samar HAMZA, who won African titles at 53kg, 59kg, and 72kg respectively.

In Greco-Roman, Egypt (220 points) upended defending champions Algeria (192 points) by winning six golds and three silver medals. The six Egyptian champions were Moamen MOHAMED (60kg), Haithem MAHMOUD (63kg), Haithem MAHMOUD (67kg), Ahmed AHMED (82kg), Mohamed METWALLY (87kg), and Abdellatif MOHAMED (130kg). 

Of those six individual champions, Haithem Mahmound and Mohamed Metwally were the only two who competed in traditional brackets.

At 63kg, Haithem Mahmound claimed his second consecutive African gold medal with a fall over Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN). Mahmoud built a five-point lead off a passivity point and a pair of gut wrenches before stopping a Tunisian headlock to pick up the fall. 

The second non-Nordic bracket champion was 87kg gold medalist Mohamed Metwally. Metwally ended his gold-medal bout early with a four-point throw after commanding the 6-0 lead over Algeria Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), 10-0. 

Algeria, who had three individual champions and 192 points, finished in second place, 28 points behind Egypt. The trio of Algerian champion was Abdelkarim FERGAT (55kg), Tarek BENAISSA (72kg), Adem BOUDJEMLINE (97kg). 

Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR) reached the top of the African podium for the tenth time with his 77kg title-winning performance on Saturday night. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

The tenth and final Greco-Roman gold medal of the day went to Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR), who won the 77kg title, improved on his runner-up finished from a year ago, claiming his tenth African title. 

The final day of wrestling at the African Championships begins Sunday at 10:30 (local time). 

RESULTS

Women’s Wrestling

TEAM SCORES
GOLD - Nigeria (195 points)
SILVER - Tunisia (177 points)
BRONZE - Egypt (160 points)
Fourth - Algeria (83 points)
Fifth - Senegal  (57 points)

50kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) 
SILVER – Nada MOHAMED (EGY) 
BRONZE – Kheira YAHIAOUI (ALG) 

53kg (Round Robin)
GOLD –  Hala AHMED (EGY)
SILVER –  Sarra HAMDI (TUN)
BRONZE –Rosemary NWEKE (NGR) 

55kg (Round Robin)
GOLD –Faten HAMMAMI  (TUN)
SILVER –Lamia CHEMLAL (ALG) 
BRONZE – Faten AHMED (EGY) 

57kg 
GOLD – Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Joseph Emilienne ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR), via fall 
BRONZE – Dorssaf GHARSSI (TUN) df. Chaimaa Fouzia AOUISSI (ALG), 11-6 

59kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Eman EBRAHIM (EGY) 
SILVER – Khouloud EL OUNI (TUN)  
BRONZE – Ifeoma Christiana NWOYE (NGR)

62kg 
GOLD – Marwa AMRI (TUN) vs. Aminat Oluwafunmilayo ADENIYI (NGR), via fall 
BRONZE – Berthe Emilienne ETANE NGOLLE (CMR) df. Fatoumata Yarie CAMARA (GUI), 1-1 

65kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Sunmisola BALOGUN (NGR) df. Yvette ZIE (BUR), 1-0 
BRONZE – Nour JELJELI (TUN) df. Amel HAMMICHE (ALG), 12-5

68kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
SILVER – Anta SAMBOU (SEN)
BRONZE – Lilia MEJRI (TUN)

72kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Samar HAMZA (EGY)
SILVER – Hannah Amuchechi RUEBEN (NGR)
BRONZE – Wiem TRABELSI (TUN)

76kg (Round Robin)
GOLD –  Blessing ONYEBUCHI (NGR)
SILVER – Mona AHMED (EGY)
BRONZE – Rihem AYARI (TUN)

Greco-Roman

TEAM SCORES
GOLD - Egypt (220 points)
SILVER - Algeria (192 points)
BRONZE - Tunisia (139 points)
Fourth - Morocco (119 points)
Fifth - Congo DR (51 points)

55kg (Round Robin)
GOLD –  Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
SILVER –  Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
BRONZE –Romio Ricardo GOLIATH (NAM) 

60kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Moamen MOHAMED (EGY) 
SILVER – Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG) 
BRONZE – Moez JALEL (TUN) 

63kg 
GOLD – Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN), via fall 
BRONZE – Fouad FAJARI (MAR) df. Gert COETZEE (RSA), 9-0 

67kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)
SILVER – Souleymen NASR (TUN) 
BRONZE – Bilal EL BAHJA (MAR)

72kg 
GOLD – Tarek BENAISSA (ALG) df. Aziz BOUALEM (MAR), 7-1 
BRONZE – Emmanuel NWORIE (NGR) df. Lamjed MAAFI (TUN), 10-9 

77kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR)
SILVER – Mohamed Ehab Mohamed Zahab KHALIL (EGY)
BRONZE – Wael SELMI (TUN)

82kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Ahmed Mahmoud AHMED (EGY)
SILVER –  Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG)
BRONZE –  Hakim TRABELSI (TUN)

87kg 
GOLD – Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) df. Bachir SID AZARA (ALG), 10-0 
BRONZE – Mohamed Skander MISSAOUI (TUN) df. Reda MOUENISS (MAR), 8-0 

97kg
GOLD – Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) df. Mohamed Ali Elsayed GABR (EGY), 2-1 
BRONZE – Amine GUENNICHI (TUN) df. Choucri ATAFI (MAR), 3-1
BRONZE - Francisco Nkunga NGONDA (ANG) df. Mohamed BUNDU (SLE), 14-5

130kg (Round Robin)
GOLD – Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
SILVER – Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG)
BRONZE – Mohamed Fadhel BLAGHJI (TUN)

#WrestleAthens

With two Greco golds, Uzbekistan shines at U17 Worlds

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 - 20:12 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 29) -- "There are very few wrestlers as gifted and talented as he is."

Uzbekistan coach Alim KURBANOV was full of praise of his newly-minted world champion ward Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) in Athens on Tuesday.

Hasanov left little doubt about his skills, as he tore through his competition at 48kg and won Uzbekistan's first world title in three year at this level.

A country which has won team titles at Asian U17 level two years in a row is now threatening to win the team title at the World U17 Championships.

Though it has to continue its good show on Wednesday as well as Uzbekistan is currently third in the team race with 58 points, it has two more finalists and two in repechage in Wednesday. If most of the results go its way, Uzbekistan can easily overtake first-place Kazakhstan [61 points] and second-placed Iran [60 points].

Read More: Greece gets Greco finalist at U17 Worlds; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan keep up

Hasanov defeated Asian U17 champion Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ) 10-1 in the final in a show of some skillful defense and powerful gut-wrench.

Bunyod HASANOV (UZB)Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) celebrates after winning the final at 48kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Kumaruly opened the scoring when he got the par terre position in the first period but Hasanov managed to defend the attempts for gut-wrenches from the Kazakhstan wrestler. In the second period, Hasanov first scored a stepout and then got the par terre position. Out came the deadly gut-wrench as he rolled Kumaruly four times to lead 8-1.

The final finished when Hasanov threw Kumaruly off him and it was scored a takedown. The 10-1 win made Hasanov the first Uzbekistan wrestler to win gold at World U17 in three years.

"I have been wrestling for six years now," Hasanov said. "It was my grandfather’s dream to make me wrestle. He enrolled me in wrestling and dreamt that I would become a national champion and then a world champion. He himself did not wrestle, he just really loves this sport."

The second gold medal for Uzbekistan came from Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB) who held off Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO), 14-7, in a high-scoring final at 80kg.

Martiashvili got the first par terre and as he tried turning Kholmirzaev, he was blocked and the Uzbekistan got two points. A stepout for Martiashvili made it 2-2 but he was down on criteria.

In the second period, Kholmirzaev's attempted arm-throw was blocked by Martiashvili who got two points but the favored was returned by Kholmirzaev who added a four-point suplex in the same sequence to lead 8-4. Martiashvili reversed the position and scored a turn when the referee blew the whistle to review the challenge asked by Georgia.

The score was 8-6 for Kholmirzaev but after review, it was 8-7 and the bout restarted in par terre. As Martiashvili tried turning Kholmirzaev again, he was blocked, giving two more points to the Uzbekistan.

A desperate attempt for a throw and win from Martiashvili saw him land on his back, giving Kholmirzaev four points and a fall for the gold medal.

Georgia had more disappointment in store on Tuesday. Just two months ago, Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO) won the European U17 gold medal by destroying Janes NAZARYAN (ARM) 9-0 in the final in Skopje. As both wrestlers made it to the World U17 Championships final on Tuesday in Athens, Nazaryan was under pressure to reverse the result from Skopje.

It seemed that Tavberidze would take the gold once again over Nazaryan, a stroke of luck and persistence from Nazaryan saw him score a takedown and take a 5-4 lead for the win in the gold medal-bout.

Nazaryan was off the blocks with a passivity point and then he turned Tavberidze for two more points. The Georgian cut one point with a stepout just before the break to make it 3-1.

Tavberidze kept his composure in the second period and when he got the par terre position, he managed to turn Nazaryan and lead 4-3 with 50 seconds remaining. As both wrestlers battled it out in the center, Tavberidze turned his back in one of the escapes but Nazaryan pounced on him and managed to complete a takedown.

That was all he needed and kept his 5-4 lead and won the world title and managed to equal his head-to-head record against Tavberidze 2-2 in four bouts.

"I faced my opponent from the final for the fourth time," Nazaryan said. "He [Tavberidze] is my friend both on and off the mat. He gives me the motivation to train even harder so that I can beat him."

Born in Vagharshapat, Nazaryan trains at the Vagharshapat club as well as at the Norayr Musheghyan Sports School. While he shares the second name with the legendary two-time Olympic champion Armen NAZARYAN, Janes said he always looked up to Armen.

"He is my idol," he said. "I have watched a lot of videos of his wrestling, and he motivates me greatly. He is my idol, and I want to win even a few more medals than Armen Nazaryan."

Kyrgyzstan's gold medal came at 55kg as Asian U17 champion Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ) won 3-1 against Nurali ASKAR (KAZ) in the final. A foul from Askar saw Abdirasulov get two points and the par terre points became neutral after that.

India won its fourth gold medal in World U17 Championships history as HARDEEP (IND) overcame the Iranian challenge of Yazdan DELROUZ (IRI) at 110kg.

This is the heaviest weight class India has ever won a gold medal in at the World U17 level. Earlier, Vinod KUMAR (IND) won at 45kg in 1980, Pappu YADAV (IND) won at 51kg in 1992 and SURAJ (IND) won at 55kg in 2022.

Hardeep fell behind 3-0 at the break as Delrouz scored two stepouts and one point for passivity. But Hardeep began the second period with a takedown and then got a point for passivity. In a surprising move, the Asian U17 champion asked for a standing restart instead of par terre as he was aware that Delrouz won't be able to sustain the pace of his wrestling.

Photo

RESULTS

48kg
GOLD:  Bunyod HASANOV (UZB) df. Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ), 10-1

BRONZE: Michael RUNDELL (USA) df. Kaisei YAMAMOTO (JPN), 12-6
BRONZE: Amirmohammad HAJIVAND (IRI) df. Baris SOYLU (TUR), 12-3

55kg
GOLD:  Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ) df. Nurali ASKAR (KAZ), 3-1

BRONZE: Amirreza TAHMASBPOUR (IRI) df. Aditya GUPTA (IND), via fall (10-1)
BRONZE: Makhdi BAROTOV (TJK) df. Nihat BAHMANOV (AZE), 8-5

65kg
GOLD: Janes NAZARYAN (ARM) df. Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO), via fall (5-4)

BRONZE: Dosbol SHAMIL (KAZ) df. ANUJ (IND), 5-4
BRONZE: Arseni KIKINIOU (USA) df. Yehor TARASENKO (UKR), 5-1

80kg
GOLD: Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB) df. Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO), via fall (14-7)

BRONZE: Ismail BEREKET (TUR) df. Nijat YEYLAGALIYEV (AZE), 9-0
BRONZE: Nurislam OSKONBAEV (KGZ) df. Taha NOURI (IRI), 3-1

110kg
GOLD: HARDEEP (IND) df. Yazdan DELROUZ (IRI), 3-3

BRONZE: Temuri SIMSIVE (GEO) df. Hu Anshi NUERLEBIEKE (CHN), 1-1
BRONZE: Anatolii NOVACHENKO (UKR) df. Emrullah CAPKAN (TUR), 5-1