#WrestleTirana

Thursday's U23 World Championships semifinals set

Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 08:42 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

TIRANA, Albania (October 26) --- The fourth day of wrestling at the 2023 U23 World Championships is underway in the Albanian capital. Today, we'll draw the Greco-Roman brackets and run through the final five weights--53kg, 55kg, 57kg, 62kg and 65kg--in women's wrestling.

Top Stars in Action:
57kg - Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) – Senior European silver
57kg - Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) – U23 world bronze
62kg - Iryna BONDAR (UKR) – U23 world silver
65kg - Irina RINGACI (MDA) – Senior world gold
65kg - Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE) – U23 world silver
65kg - Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) – Senior world silver
72kg - Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) – U23 world silver
72kg - Amit ELOR (USA) – Two-time senior world gold

Semifinal matches (as the come in):

53kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN) vs. Mako OONO (JPN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) vs. Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) vs. Mia Katherine FRIESEN (CAN)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) vs. Sara NATAMI (JPN)

62kg
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) vs. Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR) vs. Bhagyashree Hanumant FAND (UWW)

65kg
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT) vs. Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA)

72kg
Bukrenaz SERT (TUR) vs. Jyoti BERWAL (UWW)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) vs. Amit ELOR (USA)

13:02: Kasabieva ended up scoring emptying the gas tank in the second period, scoring seven points before catching Kolawole on her back for the fall.

12:57: Nigeria's Esther KOLAWOLE, the '21 U23 world bronze medalist, is in a tight one against Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) over on Mat B. Both wrestlers have been extremely cautious in the first period, with Kolawole scoring the period's only point-- an inactivity point.

12:51: It looks like it's going to be an early afternoon for us. We have four matches left on each mat before heading to the Greco-Roman draws.

12:35: I was watching the Oono and Malanchuk match, so I didn't watch the match but heard that Elor picked up another fall to move into tonight's 72kg semifinals.

12:31: One of the least talked about aspects of the Japanese women's team is their timing. They understand the clock and when to attack better than any other team in wrestling.

That was on display with Oono's win over Malanchuk, as she trailed for the entire match, but struck late to steal the 2-2 match on criteria. She'll wrestle the winner of Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN) and Serena Rosa DI BENEDETTO (CAN).

12:23: Senior world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) picked up a 10-0 win in his first bout and will wrestle Busra EFE (TUR) next.

12:00: An upcoming match I'm looking forward to watching is Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) and Mako OONO (JPN).

Due to Ukraine's lightweight, Malanchuk has been in and out of the senior lineup for a few years now, but she's capitalized on her opportunity a few times, winning a gold medal at the 2022 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event and a silver at the 2021 Individual World Cup.

On the other side, you know what you're going to get out of the Japanese women, so it'll be good to see how Malanchuk stacks up against top-tier talent.

11:47: I just realized that 55kg senior world bronze medalist Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) is entered into the competition. It's great to see her down at 53kg, which shows me she's preparing to compete at the Olympic weight in 2024.

Dragutan down at 53kg gives Moldova's women's team three solid Olympic weights. They'll have Dragutan at 53kg, Anastasia NICHITA at 57kg and Irina RINGACI at 68kg.

11:38: We'll go from one world silver medalist to another on Mat B. Macey KILTY (USA) just scored a fall, brining up Ukraine's Iryna BONDAR (UKR).

11:19: There's not much to talk about regarding Elor's opening round match other than she scored a 17 second fall over Tokyo Olympian Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN).

10:55: All eyes will be on the new face of American women's wrestling, Amit ELOR (USA). If you don't know who Elor is, she's taken the wrestling world by storm over the last two years. At the ripe age of 19, she's already a seven-time world championships--winning golds twice at the senior level, three times at the U20s and once at the U23 and U17s.

Elor is impressive beyond her years, both on and off the mat. Take a few minutes to read her latest interview with United World Wrestling's Vinay Siwach: U23 Worlds: Elor chases eighth world title in Tirana

10:45: Good morning, wrestling fans. We'll start the day with 30 minutes of repechage matches before moving into the qualification bouts. That gives me time to get the Stars in Action list prepared for you.

#WrestleZagreb

Tazhudinov in search for answers despite bronze medal

Thursday, September 18, 2025 - 08:45 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- A World Championships medal might be a career milestone for most wrestlers, but for Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN), the bronze he won in Zagreb is a prize he hopes to forget.

Coming into the tournament in Zagreb, Tazhudinov was considered as the best wrestler in the world and the favorite to win the gold medal at the 97kg. He had built a reputation of a wrestler who bulldozes anyone who stands in his path, as he did to win the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

But Tazhudinov was anything but an Olympic and world champion in Zagreb.

He almost dropped his quarterfinal match with Mogomed KURBANOV (UWW), needing a front headlock roll to survive. The thrill of victory was short lived, as Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) showed that Tazhudinov is indeed human, winning their semifinal 5-2 to end Tazhudinov's golden run.

"My initial goal was the gold medal," Tazhudinov said. "I wanted to become a two-time world champion. Unfortunately, it didn't happen -- maybe it was meant to be this way. It's very painful to lose."

As he searched for answers for his performance, Tazhudinov said that recent shoulder surgery may have affected his wrestling at the World Championships.

"I was coming back after surgery, after a serious injury," Tazhudinov said. "Maybe that had an effect, I don't even know. It took me a very long time to get myself together. At the beginning, training sessions were very difficult."

Tazhudinov returned from surgery to win two gold medals in a one-month span -- first at the Spain Grand Prix and then at the Budapest Ranking Series in June.

After the semifinal loss to Azarpira, Tazhudinov returned the next night for the bronze-medal bout with 34-year-old Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL), which only further put Tazhudinov under the scanner despite winning the match.

Magamaev was on the activity clock when he bodylocked Tazhudinov and slammed him for four points just before the 30 seconds elapsed. Tazhudinov rebounded with a takedown to make it 4-2 at the break.

He began the second period with another takedown to make it 4-4, but Magamaev continued the scramble and both wrestlers were awarded two exposure points each, putting the Bulgarian ahead 6-6 on criteria.

A counter lift to exposure gave Tazhudinov the lead for the first time, 8-6, and as Magamaev tried doing the counter lift, he gave up two as Tazhudinov blocked him. The final scramble, which gave Tazhudinov an 11-10 win, was challenged by Bulgaria. Eventually, it was scored 13-10.

Despite winning the bout, Tazhudinov shook his head as he left the mat, perhaps surprised himself by his lackluster performance.

"Honestly, I don't even know what went wrong," he said. "It means I wasn't well enough prepared. It means I wasn't in my best shape. It means I need to work even more."

Tazhudinov said he had difficulty preparing mentally for the bronze-medal bout after the loss to Azarpira.

"After the semifinal loss, I couldn't motivate myself at all for the bronze-medal match," he said. "I don't even know how I stepped onto the mat. I wasn't mentally ready to wrestle at all, and that's why the match was so difficult.

"But I will not give up -- I'll go home, work on my mistakes, and train even harder to come back stronger."