#WrestleSofia

Returning champs Jalolov and Amouzadkhalili seek second World gold medals at #WrestleSofia

Monday, July 29, 2019 - 18:25 By Taylor Miller

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Kadir Caliskan

Photo of Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB).

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Two wrestlers seek to earn their second Cadet World gold medals tomorrow at the 2019 Cadet World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2018 Cadet World champion at 45 kg Rahman Mousa AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI) will make his second-straight trip to the finals after defeating 2018 Cadet Pan American champion Stevo POULIN (USA) in the 48 kg semifinals with a 12-0 tech fall.

In the gold match, Amouzadkhalili will face 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Kamronbek KADAMOV (UZB), who scored a takedown on Udit UDIT (IND) in the final three seconds to advance to the finals.

At 55 kg, Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB), a 2017 Cadet World champion and 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion, hopes to add to his resume. Jalolov punched his ticket to the finals after an 8-0 win over 2019 Cadet European silver medalist and 2018 Cadet European bronze medalist Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR).

Tomorrow Jalolov will face two-time Cadet Asian bronze medalist Mahdi Mehrdad VEISI (IRI) for gold. Veisi defeated 2018 Youth Olympic Games champion Robert HOWARD (USA) in the semis, 8-6.

Photo of Arsamag ZASSEEV (RUS). 

The 65 kg gold-medal finals will be a rematch of the 2019 European Olympic Games Festival finals with champion Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) meeting up with silver medalist Batyrbek TSKHOVREBOV (RUS).

Gadzhiev won a close 7-7 match over 2019 EYOF bronze medalist and 2019 Cadet European bronze medalist Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO), while Tskhovrebov defeated 2019 Cadet Asian bronze medalist Manish GOSWAMI (IND) by pin.

At 80 kg, 2019 Cadet Asian champion Amirhossein Biglar FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI) will face 2018 U15 European champion Arslan BAGAEV (RUS). Both were dominant in their semifinals matches, each winning 10-0.

Two athletes who made their international debuts today are in the finals at 110 kg, Arsamag ZASSEEV (RUS) and Giorgi CHIKHRADZE (GEO).

Zasseev beat 2019 Cadet Asian champion Salar Saeid HABIBIEHSAN (IRI), 8-5, in the semifinals and Chikhradze took out Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM), 9-2.

The finals will take place on Tuesday at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

Finals matchups
48 kg: Rahman Mousa AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI) vs. Kamronbek KADAMOV (UZB)
55 kg: Mahdi Mehrdad VEISI (IRI) vs. Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
65 kg: Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) vs. Batyrbek TSKHOVREBOV (RUS)
80 kg: Amirhossein Biglar FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI) vs. Arslan BAGAEV (RUS)
110 kg: Arsamag ZASSEEV (RUS) vs. Giorgi CHIKHRADZE (GEO)

More than 1000 Wrestlers in Saudi Arabia's Biggest Competition

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 - 16:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (February 24) -- Saudi Arabia organized its largest wrestling competition to date with more than 1000 wrestlers participating in the 10-day event.

The Saudi Wrestling Federation organized the event from February 8 to 17 with wrestling in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling. The age groups included U12, U17, U23 and senior level.

The tournament was also open to government and private clubs which surged the number of wrestlers participating. The clubs included wrestlers from different nationalities. According to the Saudi federation, 1,173 wrestlers participated with 1,034 male and 139 female wrestlers.

Over the 10 days, 1,491 matches were conducted using the official UWW Arena competition management system to ensure professional organization, transparency, and technical accuracy.

"The number of registered wrestlers in the Kingdom has doubled in recent years," Sherif HALAWA, UWW Certified Educator & Head of Sports Performance of the Saudi Wrestling Federation, said. "This development has already produced historic achievements, including Saudi Arabia’s first-ever Asian silver medal at the U20 Asian Championships."

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, which termed the event as National Championships, has made steady success recently. It has also managed to grow wrestling at grassroots, women’s participation, referee development, and high-performance pathways.

"The technical level of Saudi wrestlers has improved significantly in recent years," Yusup ABDULSALAMOV, Senior Manager of High Performance at the Saudi Olympic Training Center, said. "There are promising talents capable of achieving strong international results in the near future. Saudi wrestling is clearly on the right path."