#WrestleBelgrade

Preliminary women's World Championship seeds announced

Monday, September 4, 2023 - 12:25 By Eric Olanowski

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BELGRADE, Serbia (September 4) --- United World Wrestling has released the preliminary women's wrestling seeds for the 2023 World Championships.

The point-based seeds were determined by a wrestler's participation and placement at the 2022 World Championships, 2023 Continental Championships and 2023 Ranking Series events.

Although it's highly unlikely that the brackets play out exactly how their seeded, but if the seeds were to hold true through the finals in the top-eight seeded system, here's how the bracket will look leading up to the gold-medal match:

Quarterfinals: 
No. 1 vs. No. 8 (top side)
No. 4 vs. No. 5 (top side)

No. 2 vs. No. 7 (bottom side)
No. 3 vs. No. 6 (bottom side)

Semifinals: 
No. 1 vs. No. 4 (top side)
No. 2 vs. No. 3 (bottom side)

Finals:
No. 1 vs. No. 2 

*The seeds are based on the current entries provided by National Federations and are subject to change.

50kg
No. 1 - Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
No. 2 - Sarah HILDEBRANDT (USA) 
No. 3 - Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL)
No. 4 - Ziqi FENG (CHN)
No. 5 - Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
No. 6 - Madison PARKS (CAN)
No. 7 - Jasmina IMMAEVA (UZB)
No. 8 - Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)

53kg
No. 1 - Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
No. 2 - Dominique PARRISH (USA)
No. 3 - Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
No. 4 - Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
No. 5 - Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
No. 6 - Sztalvira ORSUS (HUN)
No. 7 - Karla ACOSTA MARTINEZ (MEX)
No. 8 - Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)

55kg
No. 1 - Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
No. 2 - Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)
No. 3 - Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ)
No. 4 - Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
No. 5 - Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
No. 6 - Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)
No. 7 - Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
No. 8 - Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)

57kg
No. 1 - Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR)
No. 2 - Helen MAROULIS (USA)
No. 3 - Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN)
No. 4 - Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
No. 5 - Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)
No. 6 - Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
No. 7 - Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
No. 8 - Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)

59kg
No. 1 - Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
No. 2 - Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
No. 3 - Yuliia TKACH (UKR)
No. 4 - Qi ZHANG (CHN)
No. 5 - Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
No. 6 - Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
No. 7 - Siwar BOUSETA (TUN)
No. 8 - Jennifer PAGE (USA)

62kg
No. 1 - Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
No. 2 - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
No. 3 - Xiaojuan LUO (CHN)
No. 4 - Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
No. 5 - Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
No. 6 - Lais NUNES (BRA)
No. 7 - Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
No. 8 - Sara LINDBORG (SWE)

65kg (Only six seeded wrestlers entered)
No. 1 - Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
No. 2 - Iva GERIC (CRO)
No. 3 - Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
No. 4 - Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
No. 5 - Kadriye AKSOY (TUR)
No. 6 - Masa PEROVIC (SRB)

68kg
No. 1 - Feng ZHOU (CHN)
No. 2 - Ami ISHII (JPN)
No. 3 - Irina RINGACI (MDA)
No. 4 - Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
No. 5 - Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
No. 6 - Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
No. 7 - Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
No. 8 - Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

72kg
No. 1 - Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
No. 2 - Amit ELOR (USA)
No. 3 - Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
No. 4 - Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
No. 5 - Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
No. 6 - Kendra DACHER (FRA)
No. 7 - QIANDEGENCHAGAN (CHN)
No. 8 - Alina LEVYTSKA (UKR)

76kg
No. 1 - Samar HAMZA (EGY)
No. 2 - Genesis REASCO (ECU)
No. 3 - Epp MAE (EST)
No. 4 - Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
No. 5 - Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
No. 6 - Yuka KAGAMI (JPN)
No. 7 - Cynthia VESCAN (FRA)
No. 8 - Francy RAEDELT (GER)

Esmaeili survives Jafarov shock to win ISG 2025 gold

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 18:51 By Vinay Siwach

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 18) -- He needed some strong defense to win the world title and on Tuesday, Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) needed some clutch offense to beat Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) for the second time in two one month.

Esmaeili and Jafarov clashed in the final of the 67kg weight class at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in Riyad, Saudi Arabi and it seemed that the latter was on his way to upset the Olympic champion and avenge his loss from the World Championships final.

Down 3-3 on criteria, all seemed to be over for Esmaeili as the clock ticked down. In the last 10 seconds, Esmaeili worked on a double-arm lock and then managed to throw Jafarov in danger from standing for four points which changed the result and gave him the win.

Azerbaijan challenged the call but there was no change in the result and Esmaeili defeated Jafarov 8-3, to capture yet another gold medal this year after Asian and World Championships.

Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) throws Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) during their 67kg bout. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

In Zagreb, Esmaeili was put in par terre for third passivity call. Jafarov, down 2-1, needed a point to turn the result but he failed to score any points as Esmaeili defended the par terre position and captured his first world title.

Jafarov blamed a lapse in concentration in the final seconds that costed him the gold medal in Riyadh.

Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) won his fourth gold medal this year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Iran's other world champion from Zagreb, Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) made it seem a little easier as he defeated former world U20 champion Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0, winning his third gold in one month.

Farokhi, who won gold at 82kg at the World Championships, moved to 87kg for U23 World Championships and won gold without giving up a point in Novi Sad. Just two weeks later, he now gold at 87kg on Tuesday.

Against Yevloyev in the final, Farokhi was awarded both par terre position which gave him a 2-0 lead. From the second par terre, he managed to score a point as he threw Yevloyev for a stepout. The Kazakhstan wrestler was docked two points for defensive foul making it 5-0.

Kazakhstan challenged the foul call but Yevloyev had clearly blocked Farokhi using his elbow on the Iranian's face. The lost challenged made it 6-0 for Farokhi, giving him the win.

Farokhi had a tough match in semifinals against world bronze medalist Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) and needed a takedown in the final minute to win 7-6, first time he has shown some difficulty winning bouts.

Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) won the 77kg gold medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Two other gold medals were awarded on Tuesday with former U23 world champion Alisher GANIEV (UZB) winning the 60kg one and two-time Olympic medalist Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) marking his comeback with gold medal at 77kg.

Makhmudov, who has not wrestled in a full tournament since winning bronze in Paris, was in some form as he made no mistake in his run to the gold medal. In the final, he wrestled Amir ABDI (IRI) and performed a reverse lift throw for five points before securing the fall in the second period.

Abdi got the par terre position in the first period but Makhmudov defended the position, giving only a 1-0 lead to the Iranian. When he got the par terre position, he jumped to the front before performing the lift and holding Abdi on the mat for fall.

Ganiev, who defeated European champion Nihad MAMMADLI (AZE) in the quarterfinal, defeated Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) in the semifinal and humbled Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0, in the final.

RESULTS

60kg
GOLD: Alisher GANIEV (UZB) df. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR), 8-0

BRONZE: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI) df. Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE), 3-2
BRONZE: Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ) df. Fergat ABDELKRIM (ALG), 5-1

67kg
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI) df. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), 8-3

BRONZE: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT), 5-2
BRONZE: Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) df. Hassan ABDELREHIM (EGY), via fall (9-0)

77kg
GOLD: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) df. Amir ABDI (IRI), via fall (6-1)

BRONZE: Abdullo ALIEV (UZB) df. Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE), 2-2
BRONZE: Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT) df. Sami SLAMA (TUN), via fall (8-1)

87kg
GOLD: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) df. Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ), 6-0

BRONZE: Sid BACHIR (ALG) df. Sukhrob ABDULKHAEV (TJK), 9-0
BRONZE: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 5-1