#Trnava2018

Reigning World Champs Kilty, Susaki and Velieva Roll Into Semifinals

By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 19) - Reigning world champions Macey KILTY (USA), Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) opened up the women’s wrestling portion of the Trnava Junior World Championships with a pair of wins and moved into Wednesday night’s semifinals. 

Last year’s cadet world champion Macey Kilty breezed past her first two opponents. In her first match, Kilty quickly dismantled Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE), scoring a 12-0 technical superiority victory. In her quarterfinals bout, she commanded a 4-0 lead on Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA (UKR) before picking up the fall to move into the 68kg semifinals where she’ll meet China’s WANG Yan.

Susaki, the reigning Paris world champion only needed 43 seconds in her opening round match to pick up the 10-0 technical superiority victory over Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA). 

In the quarterfinals, Susaki trampled China’s ZHONG Yumei (CHN), 10-0, grabbing the 53-second technical superiority win. Through two matches, Susaki has been on the mat for a total of 99 seconds and has outscored her opponents 20-0. 

The 19-year-old Japanese superstar will meet three-time age-level world bronze medalist and reigning junior European champion Veronika GURSKAYA (RUS) in tonight’s semifinals. 

Russia’s Tampere junior world gold medalist Khanum Velieva began her day with a 6-2 first round routing of Japan’s 2016 cadet world runner-up, Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN).

She then moved to the semifinals with a 10-0 win over Rihem AYARI (TUN). In the semifinals, Velieva will wrestle Korea’s PARK Hyeonyeong (KOR).

Women's wrestling semifinals begin at 17:15, and will be followed by the Greco-Roman finals which begin at 18:00. 

RESULTS

SEMIFINALS 
50kg 
Ellen RIESTERER (GER) vs. Marina ZAKSHEVSKAYA (KAZ) 
Veronika GURSKAYA (RUS) vs. Yui SUSAKI (JPN) 

55kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (RUS) vs. Saki IGARASHI (JPN) 
Jiajing HOU (CHN) vs. Khaliunaa BAYARAA (MGL) 

59kg
Yekaterina FIRSTOVA (KAZ) vs. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) 
Sae NANJO (JPN) vs. Anshu ANSHU (IND) 

68kg 
Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) vs. Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR) 
Yan WANG (CHN) vs. Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) 

76kg 
Yuanyuan HUANG (CHN) vs. Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) 
Denise  MAKOTA STROEM (SWE) vs. Elmira KHALAEVA (RUS) 

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Julfalakyan re-elected as UWW Athletes' Commission President

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (October 1) -- Arsen JULFALAKYAN has been re-elected President of the United World Wrestling Athletes’ Commission, securing a second term from 2025 to 2029.

The London Olympic silver medalist, who first took office in 2021, was the sole candidate for the position following the Athletes’ Commission elections held during the World Championships in Zagreb.

As President of the Commission, Julfalakyan will serve as the voice of wrestlers and represent their interests at the UWW Bureau and Congress. He will also represent athletes at the IOC Athletes’ Forum, WADA, and other international organizations.

"I am grateful to the entire wrestling community for trusting me with the privilege of representing them in the UWW Bureau and on the world stage," Julfalakyan said. "I’ll do my best to carry out this mission with dignity and ensure your voice is heard worldwide.

“Special thanks to UWW President Nenad Lalovic, Bureau members, and all national federations for their support. I would also like to take this opportunity to strongly encourage wrestlers to stay actively engaged with the UWW Athletes’ Commission.”

The elections for the Athletes' Commission were held during the World Championships in Zagreb from September 12 to 20 in which nine members, including four women, were elected. These nine members are:

Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARG)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Tamas LORINCZ (HUN)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Jessica LAVERS-McBAIN (AUS)
Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)

Following the election, UWW called for candidates for the presidency. As the sole applicant, Julfalakyan was elected unopposed and will continue as President of the Athletes’ Commission. UWW congratulates Julfalakyan on his re-election.

For any queries regarding the election or the functioning of the Athletes Commission, please contact UWW Secretariat.