#WrestlePontevedra

Russia and Azerbaijan to Meet Twice in Saturday's Freestyle Finals

Friday, June 7, 2019 - 18:07 By Eric Olanowski

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PONTEVEDRA, Spain (June 7) – Russia’s Greco-Roman squad won 14 of 15 matches on their opening day of competition and inserted four wrestlers into the finals. Their freestyle team matched their Greco-Roman countrymen, placing four wrestlers into the finals, but did so by winning 12 out of 13 matches. 

Russia’s four Day 6 finalists are Nachyn MONGUSH, Muslim SAIDULAEV, Magomed ABDULKADYROV, and Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV. The quartet will wrestle for gold medals at 57kg, 65kg, 70kg, and 79kg, respectively. 

Russia will take on Azerbaijan in two of their four gold medal bouts on Saturday night

The first Russian and Azerbaijan finals meeting will be at 65kg where Muslim Saidulaev will wrestle defending cadet world and European champion Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE); and the second meeting between Russia and Azerbaijan will happen at 79kg, where Amkhad Tashukhadzhiev will meet 2016 cadet world champion Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE). 

Returning junior world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) is one of two Moldovan wrestlers competing in Saturday night's freestyle finals. He'll wrestle in the 70kg gold-medal bout. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Similar to Azerbaijan, Moldova and Turkey will also have two representatives in Saturday night’s finals. 

Junior world bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA) and 2015 cadet European bronze medalist Radu LEFTER (MDA) will wrestle for Moldova in the 70kg and 97kg finals, respectively; and Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) and Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR), the 2015 cadet European champion, will compete in the 57kg and 97kg gold-medal matches, respectively.

The Day 6 freestyle finals will start at 18:00 (local time) and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org.

RESULTS 

57kg 
GOLD -Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) vs. Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS)
SEMIFINALS - Ahmet DUMAN (TUR) df. Kamil KERYMOV (UKR), 8-5
SEMIFINALS - Nachyn MONGUSH (RUS) df. Ioannis MARTIDIS (GRE), 11-0 

65kg 
GOLD -Muslim SAIDULAEV (RUS) vs. Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
SEMIFINALS - Muslim SAIDULAEV (RUS) df. Dzianis SALAVEI (BLR), 10-0 
SEMIFINALS - Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA), 3-1 

70kg 
GOLD -Vasile DIACON (MDA) vs. Magomed ABDULKADYROV (RUS)
SEMIFINALS - Vasile DIACON (MDA) df. Omer CAYIR (TUR), 2-2 
SEMIFINALS - Magomed ABDULKADYROV (RUS) df. Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM), 2-2 

79kg 
GOLD -Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV (RUS) vs. Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
SEMIFINALS - Amkhad TASHUKHADZHIEV (RUS) df. Arman AVAGYAN (ARM), 9-8 
SEMIFINALS - Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) df. Erik REINBOK (EST), 10-0 

97kg
GOLD -Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) vs. Radu LEFTER (MDA)
SEMIFINALS - Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) df. Artur VEGH (HUN), 13-0  
SEMIFINALS - Radu LEFTER (MDA) df. Aleh MATORNY (BLR), 10-0 

#development

UWW conducts REDT program in Benin

Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:06 By United World Wrestling Press

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OUIDAH, Benin (December 20) -- United World Wrestling (UWW), in collaboration with the Benin Wrestling Federation, the Benin National Olympic Committee and the national sports authorities, successfully organized the Regional Education and Development Wrestling Tournament (REDT), which took place in Ouidah from November 23 to 30, 2025.

This event represents the first tournament ever organized in West Africa, marking a major milestone in UWW’s wrestling development strategy on the African continent.

Ten countries from the West African region took part in the tournament, contributing to a framework of technical and educational exchanges aimed at enhancing the competencies of wrestling stakeholders.

Deqa NIAMKEY, Director of Development at United World Wrestling, paid an official visit to Benin. She praised the progress achieved by the Benin Wrestling Federation and recalled the core objective of the REDT program.

"The REDT was initiated by United World Wrestling to support countries in the sustainable development of wrestling.”

Niamkey also conducted a sports administration education session with representatives of national federations, while Youssef BOUAZIZ delivered an online training session on ARENA.

Benin

Ahead of the competitions, a regional coaches’ education program was conducted from November 24 to 27, 2025, bringing together coaches, referees, athletes and technical staff from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Senegal.

This program was delivered by Vincent AKA, UWW Expert and Development Officer, and concluded with theoretical and practical evaluations leading to the award of UWW International Coaching Certifications Levels 1 and 2.

Celestin PAVELESCU, UWW Expert, led the refereeing education program in Olympic Wrestling and Beach Wrestling, contributing to the improvement of technical standards and the harmonization of officiating practices across the region.

The competitions were held on November 29, 2025 at the IRSP Gymnasium, while the Beach Wrestling events took place on November 30, 2025 at the Door of No Return Beach, an emblematic site of Ouidah’s historical and cultural heritage.

The host nation particularly distinguished itself during this edition, winning a total of 35 medals (11 gold, 15 silver and 9 bronze).

The development strategy focused on youth and the introduction of wrestling in the school environment, with a strong representation of U17 wrestlers, illustrates the long-term vision pursued by the Benin Wrestling Federation.

At the conclusion of the competition, the President of the Benin Wrestling Federation, Adihunkpéto YVES AZIFAN, congratulated all wrestlers and coaches, while reaffirming the federation’s commitment to position Benin sustainably among the leading nations of African and international wrestling.