#WrestleAlexandria, #WrestleParis

Samoa, Australia, South Africa end Olympic drought with Paris spots in Alexandria

By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 24) -- Seven nations shared the 12 Paris Olympics Freestyle quotas on the final day of the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers in Alexandria.

Hosts Egypt led the way with four quotas while Australia and Guinea Bissau won two each. Samoa, Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria won one each to complete the line-up.

Samoa qualified for the first time in Freestyle as Gaku AKAZAWA (SAM) dominated his bouts to win the quota. Paris will also mark the first Samoan wrestler at the Olympics since Sydney 2000. Akazawa, a former Japanese high school star who moved to Samoa in 2017, defeated Wotna NDOC (GBS) via fall in the first period of the 65kg semifinal.

Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS) also ended an eight-year wait for Australia as he qualified at 65kg after winning the other semifinal. He defeated Manaceu NGONDA (ANG) 10-0.

A little later, Jayden LAWRENCE (AUS) earned a Paris quota at 86kg with a thrilling 4-4 win over Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR) in the semifinals. 

Onovwiomogbowho scored a takedown, earned another point for Lawrence's passivity and added a stepout to build a 4-0 lead in the semifinal. Lawrence put all his energy into scoring a takedown in the second period but found it difficult. He ultimately hit a cut back which made Onovwiomogbohwo fall on his back, giving Lawrence four points.

Lawrence kept his 4-4 criteria lead for the final two minutes and earned a Paris 2024 quota.

Tokyo Olympian Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) joined him as the qualified wrestler for Paris as he defeated Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR) 7-0 and won the ticket.

South Africa will also be back in the Olympics after 16 years Nicholas de LANGE (RSA) qualified the country at 97kg after he defeated Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN)via fall. The former U20 world medalist convincingly won both bouts.

Mostafa ELDERS (EGY) was surprised by Wali KEBIR (ALG) who scored three points on Elders but the Egyptian never lost his cool and posted an easy 15-3 victory.

Egypt qualified three more weight classes, 57kg, 74kg and 125kg, with Amr REDA (EGY) leading from the front. The ever-consistent Reda took just 33 seconds after the first period to win the quota after beating Rayanne ESSAIDI (MAR), 11-0. His previous two wins of the day were via falls.

At 125kg, Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY) survived a scare to beat Modou FAYE (SEN), 3-3, in the semifinals and qualify for the Games. He got a 1-0 lead after Faye was called passive but no additional points were scored in the first period.

Faye was put on the activity clock again in the second period this time he hit a single-leg attack to takedown. Abdelmottaleb was put on the activity clock late in the bout and failed to score, giving one more point to Faye who now led 3-1 with just over a minute left.

Abdelmottaleb scored a takedown using a go-behind to take a 3-3 criteria lead and defended it for the last 28 seconds to qualify for the Olympics.

Gamal MOHAMED (EGY) did not face any troubles as he won the 57kg place with an easy 8-0 win over KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN) in the semifinal.

Two of the remaining three spots were captured by Guinea Bissau as Tokyo Olympian Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) won at 57kg, rolling to a 10-0 win over Suraj SINGH (NZL) while 74kg African champion Bacar NDUM (GBS) defeated Oyeinkeperemo BRAVEMAN (NGR), 10-2, in his semifinal.

The second 125kg quota was won by Ashton MUTUWA (NGR) who was involved in a high-scoring bout against Justin VAN ZYL (RSA) before winning via fall.

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RESULTS

57kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) df. Suraj SINGH (NZL), 10-0
SF 2: Gamal MOHAMED (EGY) df. KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN), 8-0

65kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Georgii OKOROKOVV (AUS) df. Manaceu NGONDA (ANG), 10-0
SF 2: Gaku AKAZAWA (SAM) df. Wotna NDOC (GBS), via fall (4-2)

74kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Amr REDA (EGY) df. Rayanne ESSAIDI (MAR), 11-0
SF 2: Bacar NDUM (GBS) df. Oyeinkeperemo BRAVEMAN (NGR), 10-2

86kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) df. Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR), 7-0
SF 2: Jayden LAWRENCE (AUS) df. Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR), 4-4

97kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) df. Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN), via fall (5-2)
SF 2: Mostafa ELDERS (EGY) df. Wali KEBIR (ALG), 15-3

125kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY) df. Modou FAYE (SEN), 3-3
SF 2: Ashton MUTUWA (NGR) df. Justin VAN ZYL (RSA), via fall (16-8)

#WrestleAlexandria

China rebuilds women's team, one medal at a time

By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 25) -- Over the two days of women's wrestling Alexandria, China took another step towards regaining its spot below Japan as the best country in the sport.

Having lost that place to the USA in the last three years and Ukraine on its heels, China needed to rebuild the team that can match, if not overtake Japan. It also included grooming younger wrestlers for international competition, the lack of which was evident at the World Championships last year as only Jia LONG (CHN) reached the final. Nine others did not even reach the semifinals.

Before Belgrade, the Chinese team traveled extensively in Europe to get back to the peak after being in China for more than a year. They camped in Germany, wrestled in Romania and Poland, camped in Serbia and participated in the World Championships. That is four months away from home.

Once they returned, a full lockdown was in effect in Beijing which meant being in the Olympic training center. No one was allowed to go out.

China flew to Iowa for the World Cup with little practice and made it to the final before losing to Ukraine. It was a big blow to the team which was considered second to Japan in the world. The wrestlers realized they have little time to regain their top form as the Paris Olympic qualifying World Championships was fast approaching.

The team began training together in Beijing in January and competed at the Zagreb Open in February. It won five medals but not a single gold as Japan continued its dominance in women's wrestling. The team flew to Hungary for the international camp before coming to Egypt for another competition.

In Alexandria, China ended the women's competition with eight medals including one gold and only three wrestlers out of 11 did not finish on the podium.

ChinaThe 50kg podium with three China wrestlers. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Moreover, the three 50kg wrestlers from China reached the podium for a second straight tournament. In Zagreb, Jiang ZHU (CHN) won silver while Ziqi FENG (CHN) and Meng FAN (CHN) won bronze medals. The latter two reached the final in Alexandria while Zhu won bronze.

The three wrestlers will add more Swiss Francs to the ones they won in Zagreb. Feng will pocket 1500 Swiss Francs for her gold while Fan will get 750 Swiss Francs. Zhu will get 500 Swiss Francs.

UWW began awarding prize money to Ranking Series medal winners this year and also allowed wrestlers to compete with a two-kilogram weight allowance at these tournaments.

Feng, a former U23 World silver medalist, is trying to fill the spot left vacant after Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Yanan SUN's (CHN) elongated break from international competition. Zhu, second fiddle to Sun for a long time, is in the same queue.

But Feng may well be the front-runner now as she defeated Zhu in the quarterfinals 12-2. She also defeated Oksana LIVACH (UKR), who had defeated Zhu in the World Cup, 15-4 in the opening round.

Feng wrestled Fan in the 50kg final and won that convincingly to all but seal her place for the Asian Championships. Fan defeated Feng in the final of the Ion Corneanu & Ladislau Simon Memorial in Bucharest, Romania last year.

Just before the end of the first period in the final, Feng stopped a right-side swing single and used a counter-offensive go-behind to pick up her first takedown. She quickly dropped below Fan’s knees, locked up an ankle lace and barrel-rolled her way to a staggering 10-1 lead. With a minute left in the second, Feng dumped Fan for the match-winning takedown, winning 50kg gold with 12-1 technical superiority.

While Feng emerged as the only gold medalist for China in Alexandria, Xiaojuan LUO (CHN) won silver at 62kg while Juan WANG (CHN) earned the same medal at 76kg after inspiring performances.

The other wrestlers with medals were Li DENG (CHN) with bronze at 53kg, Mengyu XIE (CHN) won bronze at 55kg, Qi ZHANG (CHN) won bronze at 57kg and ZHUOMALAGA (CHN) won bronze at 59kg.

At 53kg and 57kg, China will see the return of Tokyo silver medalist Qianyu PANG (CHN) and Ningning RONG (CHN) respectively as they continue to recover from injuries. At 68kg, veteran Feng ZHOU (CHN) is likely to make a return for the Asian Championships.

Yuliia TKACH (UKR)Yuliia TKACH (UKR) celebrates after beating world champion Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in the 59kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Ukraine wins 2 golds

After a gold-less day on Friday, Ukraine returned to the podium with veteran Yulia TKACH (UKR) and Tatiana RIZKHO (UKR).

Tkach put on a special performance by winning the 59kg gold medal over world champion Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in a close final. She came out with heavy hands, using a left-side collar tie to dictate the match's pace. Aware of Nichita's tactics of setting up her for the off-the-elbow duck-under, Tkach attacked her head-on instead of straying away from Nichita’s go-to offense.

The 33-year-old was the first to put points on the board with a shot clock point. She used an elbow-post high crotch with her head to the outside of Nichita’s left hip but ran out of time, ending the first period with a 1-0 lead.

When the second period started, Tkach got right back to the shot that she failed to finish on in the first period. But this time, she stayed persistent, fighting for 60 seconds to pick up the takedown. She surrendered a takedown with :19 seconds left but hung out to win the match, 3-2.

The loss to Tkach ended Nichita's run of five straight gold medals in one year. It all started with the gold at the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series event in Istanbul exactly a year ago.

Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR), right, wrestles Emma BRUNTIL (USA) in their Round 2 bout at 65kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

At 65kg, European champion Rizhko put on a spirited show to win the gold in a five-wrestler bracket. She began with a victory via fall over BHATERI (IND) and followed that up with a 6-2 win over Emma BRUNTIL (USA) in what was her closest bout of the tournament.

Ayatalla AHMED (EGY) never came close to troubling Rizhko as she won 10-0 and Khadija JLASSI (TUN) managed one point in a 10-1 loss.

Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) defeated Li DENG (CHN) in the 53kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In other gold medal bouts, former U23 world champion Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) was the standout performer of the day as she won the 53kg gold medal.

Yepez came out on the top in a weight class that included world champion Dom PARRISH (USA), European champion Emma MALMGREN (SWE), former U23 world champion Andreea ANA (ROU), Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN), Nina HEMMER (GER) and Iulia LEORDA (MDA) among others.

In the final, she wrestled Deng and survived a scare before winning 9-4 for her first gold medal at a UWW event since the 2021 U23 World Championships.

After picking up the shot clock point, Yepez used a four-point double leg and a pair of gut wrenches to pick up the 9-0 lead. In the second period, Yepez gave up a four-point throw while trying to stay in bounds, cutting her lead to 9-4. It was here that Deng tried the fall as Yepez was on her back for 30 seconds. However, Yepez's one shoulder always stayed in the air.

Earlier in the day, Yepez combined aggressive wrestling with tight defense to reach the final. In the quarterfinals, she wrestled Hemmer and secured an 11-3 win before a 2-0 win over Ana as she completely shut off in the second period.

On the other side of the bracket, Malmgren eliminated Parrish but lost to Orshush who then suffered a 1-1 loss to Deng in the semifinal.

Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) and Bediha GUN (TUR) scramble in the 55kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

At 55kg, Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) had mentioned her World Championships rematch with Xie and she got that in the semifinal. In Belgrade, Winchester led 12-6 but suffered an injury and lost via fall.

But she avenged that loss to Xie, winning 4-0 and securing a place in the final against Bediha GUN (TUR). In the final, Winchester scored on an early stepout, followed by a head inside single leg to lead, 3-0.

Winchester remained the attacking wrestler throughout the bout and was rewarded when she pressured Gun, who fell in a clumsy manner and gave up four. In the closing seconds of the bout, Winchester went for the same move she began the bout and got a takedown which she tried transitioning into a fall but the time ran out.

Dalma CANEVA (ITA)Dalma CANEVA (ITA) secures a takedown against Alina LEVYTSKA (UKR) in the 72kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Dalma CANEVA (ITA) upgraded her silver from Zagreb Open to gold in Alexandria as she won the 72kg weight class over Alina LEVYTSKA (UKR) who had defeated her in Round 3.

After two dominating wins, Caneva wrestled Levytska in Round 3 and failed to break the Ukrainian's defense. Levytska got a point for Caneva's passivity and then a stepout which was challenged. Caneva scored a takedown but that was all as she lost 4-2.

Caneva defeated REETIKA (IND) via fall and got a chance to set the record straight with Levystka who clearly had the advantage after defeating her just hours before.

The lead switched hands three times in the final as Caneva picked up a shot clock point before the two traded takedowns. Caneva stopped a desperation shot attempt from Levytska and added two more points -- extending her lead to 5-2.

That was the final scoreline of the final as Caneva won the gold. She has now pocketed 2250 Swiss Francs, thanks to her two medals in three weeks.

Taha AKGUL (TUR)Taha AKGUL (TUR) launches a leg lace against Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL) in the 125kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

No surprises in freestyle

There were no surprises in freestyle as world champion Taha AKGUL (TUR) won the 125kg gold and World bronze medalist Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) won the 97kg title.

Akgul was wrestling for the first time since winning the world title in Belgrade and showed no signs of rust, winning the gold in Alexandria with a 5-0 victory over Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL).

The 2016 Olympic champ did what he had to do in the first period before shutting things down in the second. After picking up the shot clock point in the first, the defending world champ scored a takedown from an underhook throw, then transitioned to a leg lace for a 5-0 first-period lead.

He sat on that lead with confidence, knowing that it was enough for him to claim the gold in his first competition in five months. Akgul was part of the rescue efforts after two devastating earthquakes hit Turkiye just 20 days ago.

Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK)Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) won the 97kg gold. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Tcakulov too had a fruitful day as he captured his first gold medal of the season and warmed up for the April European Championships, in which he will be a returning bronze medalist, with a 7-1 win over Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL).

He was called passive in the first period but seemed more active in the second and picked up a three-point takedown, as he struck with a takedown just as Baranowski’s shot clock expired. With :10 left, Tcakulov stopped Baranowski’s desperation shot attempt and picked up one for the step out. But the Polish wrestler still had his challenge, so he threw the brick and won the challenge, keeping the Slovakian’s lead to 5-1. But as action resumed, Tcakulov halted Baranowski’s bull rush attempt and scored on an easy drop-level double leg, winning the bout, 7-1.

The remaining eight freestyle weight classes will be in action Sunday, the final day of the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking series.

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RESULTS

50kg
GOLD -  Ziqi FENG (CHN) df. Meng FAN (CHN), 12-1

BRONZE - Alyssa LAMPE (USA) df. Madison PARKS (CAN), via inj. def.
BRONZE - Jiang ZHU (CHN) df. Oksana LIVACH (UKR), 4-1

53kg
GOLD - Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) df. Li DENG (CHN), 9-4

BRONZE - Andreea ANA (ROU) df. Nina HEMMER (GER), 11-2
BRONZE - Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN) df. Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER), 9-4

55kg
GOLD - Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) df. Bediha GUN (TUR), 9-0

BRONZE - Marina SEDNEVA (KAZ) df. Sushma SHOKEEN (IND), via inj. def.
BRONZE - Mengyu XIE (CHN) df. Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA), 7-4

59kg
GOLD - Yuliia TKACH (UKR) df. Anastasia NICHITA (MDA), 3-2

BRONZE - Yuliia LESKOVETS (UKR) df. SIMRAN (IND), via fall
BRONZE - ZHUOMALAGA (CHN) df. Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ), 11-0

65kg
GOLD - Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)
SILVER - Emma BRUNTIL (USA)
BRONZE - Khadija JLASSI (TUN)

Key match: Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR) df. Emma BRUNTIL (USA), 6-2

72kg
GOLD - Dalma CANEVA (ITA) df. Alina LEVYTSKA (UKR), 5-2

BRONZE - REETIKA (IND) df. Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER), 10-0

Freestyle

97kg
GOLD -  Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) df. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL), 7-1

BRONZE - Vladislav BAITCAEV (HUN) df. Benjamin HONIS (ITA), 8-0
BRONZE - Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) df. Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR), 7-0

125kg
GOLD - Taha AKGUL (TUR) df. Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL), 5-0

BRONZE - Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB) df. Benxin DUAN (CHN), 6-0
BRONZE - Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) df. Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA), 11-0