#WrestleZagreb

Thursday's night women's wrestling semifinals set

By Eric Olanowski

ZAGREB, Croatia (April 20) -- The fourth day of the European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Women's wrestling will start off with 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 65kg and 72kg wrestlers taking the mat.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

FULL EUROPEAN C'SHIP SCHEDULE:
- 11:30 - 
Qualification rounds
- 16:45 - Semifinals
- 18:00 - Finals

1:20: That's a quick morning session. We wrapped up the early session in just under two hours. We'll be back for tonight's semifinals at 16:45.

1:10: Here are the semifinals matches (as they come in): 
53kg
Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN) vs. Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) 
Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE) vs. Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)

57kg
Jowita Maria WRZESIEN (POL) vs. Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) 
Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) vs. Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) 

62kg
Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR) vs. Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL) 
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE) vs. Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) 

65kg
Tetiana SOVA RIZHKO (UKR) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA) 
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) vs. Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU) 

72lkg
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)  vs. Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR) 
Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU) vs. Liudmyla PAVLOVETS TYCHYNA (UKR) 


12:58: Malmgren was up 11-6 and then picked up a fall to move into the semifinals against Turkan NASIROVA (AZE).

12:55: Olympic bronze medalist Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) grabs a 10-0 win and moved into the semifinals. She'll face the winner of Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) and Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA)

If Hrushyna wins, it'd be a rematch of last years European finals, which was won by the Ukrainian.

12:49: Big matchup going on over on Mat C.  Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE) and Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) are in a 7-4 battle right now as we head into the second period.

12:30: Grace Bullen picked up her second quick 10-0 win. She tech'd Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR) and Amina Roxana CAPEZAN (ROU) and punched her ticket to the 62kg semifinals.

12:18: There are good and bad parts to having seeded athletes. One of the bad parts is having to wait a few hours before we get to see our superstars compete. Either way, they stars are starting to show up on the match board. Here are a few high-profile athletes coming up soon:

Mat A | Bout 258: Alina HRUSHYNA AKOBIIA (UKR) 
Mat B | Bout 275: Grace Jacob BULLEN (NOR) 
Mat B | Bout 277: Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL) 
Mat C | Bout 289: Irina RINGACI (MDA) 
Mat C |Bout 292: Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL) 
Mat C |Bout 293  Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE) 

11:47: Our first qualification match of the morning will take place on Mat A. It'll be Olympic bronze medalist  Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) taking on Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA) in the first bout of the day.

11:37: Welcome back to the Arena Zagreb for the second day women's wrestling and the fourth overall day of action at the European Championships.We'll start today with a few repechage bouts for those who fell to eventual finalists.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Lalovic attends WADA Conference, completes development visits in Asia

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 8) -- United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC, who serves on the WADA Executive Committee as an IOC representative, attended the 2025 WADA World Conference held from December 1 to 5 in Busan, Korea.

The conference brought together the global anti-doping community for high-level discussions on the World Anti-Doping Program, with a key focus on approving the 2027 World Anti-Doping Code and International Standards. The revision process, launched in September 2023, has allowed stakeholders to contribute to strengthening and modernizing the global anti-doping system.

Nenad LALOVIC

Development visits

President Lalovic also completed wrestling-related visits to China, Korea, and Kyrgyzstan, reinforcing UWW’s commitment to supporting National Federations and expanding the sport across the region.

In each country, Lalovic emphasized UWW’s ongoing efforts to deepen cooperation with National Federations, increase engagement, and grow wrestling at the elite and grassroots levels. He encouraged federations to integrate wrestling programs into schools, offering more opportunities for young athletes to enter the sport.

Nenad LALOVIC

A key area of discussion was UWW’s development strategy leading into the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic cycle, including updates on Olympic qualification, the Pro Series, and opportunities available to National Federations.

In China, meetings were held with Vice Minister of General Administration of Sport of China Lixin TONG and Vice President of National Olympic Committee of China Jinqiang ZHOU.

UWW also recently announced the addition of Raul TRUJILLO DIAZ, longtime coach of Olympic champion Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) and recipient of the 2025 IOC Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award, to support global development of Greco-Roman. Lalovic highlighted that such initiatives strengthen the sport and promote valuable exchanges of expertise among federations and coaches.

MoU

MoU signed in Kyrgyzstan

During the visit to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan inaugurated a new wrestling arena and academy, marking a significant step forward in its cooperation with UWW.

A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between UWW and Izabekov Wrestling Academy to expand development programs and training opportunities in the country.

Accompanied by UWW Asia President Mohammad Al-AWAMLEH and Secretary General Carlos ROY, Lalovic met with representatives of the Kyrgyzstan federation to discuss regional initiatives and long-term development plans.

On December 6, Lalovic was received by Sadyr JAPAROV, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, to whom he presented the UWW medal in recognition of his support for wrestling.