#WrestleRome

U17 World Championships day two semis set

By Vinay Siwach

ROME, Italy (July 26) -- After an eventful first day, the U17 World Championships will see another round of Greco-Roman action on day two. Wrestlers from 45kg, 51kg, 60kg, 71kg and 92kg will be eyeing a spot in their respective finals.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 RECAP

14:45: The semifinals pair for the evening sessions

45kg
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU) vs. Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB)
Payam AHMADI (IRI) vs. Yevhen POKOVBA (UKR)

60kg
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM) vs. Abolfazl MIRSHEKAR (IRI)
Omar MOURAD (EGY) vs. Lucas Kevin LO GRASSO (FRA)

71kg
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO) vs. Ibrahim OZDEMIR (TUR)
Ararat VARDERESYAN (ARM) vs. Davud MAMMADOV (AZE)

51kg
Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) vs. AYTJAN KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI) vs. Ali SUMBUL (TUR)

92kg
Gor AYVAZYAN (GEO) vs. Hamidreza Morteza KESHTKAR (IRI)
Darius KIEFER (GER) vs. Cody MERRILL (USA)

 14:30:  Payam AHMADI (IRI) and Yevhen POKOVBA (UKR) have set up a mouth-watering semifinal at 45kg. Ahmadi has been on a great run today while Pokovba is looking to add world gold to his continental title 

13:50: Returning silver medalist Anri KHOZREVANIDZE (GEO) could not have asked for a better start. He beats Hristo VALENTINOV (BUL) 9-0 inside the first period.

13:45: What a battle! Rauan BEKIMOV (KAZ), the Asian champion at 51kg, had the bout in control but Mohammadreza GHOLAMI (IRI) came from behind to win 8-7 and secure a place in the quarterfinals. Gholami is a bronze medalist in the Asian Championships.

13:35: In a battle of European medalists, silver in Bucharest Davud MAMMADOV (AZE) gets the turn from par terre while bronze medalist Maksym RADYK (UKR) fails to do so. Mammadov moves on to the quarterfinals 

13:25: No trouble for Ibrahim OZDEMIR (TUR) against Antal VAMOS (SRB). The European champion did give up three points but controlled the bout to score 11 to reach 80kg quarterfinals.

13:15: Omar MOURAD (EGY) is moving on. After upsetting Mahammad GASIMZADE (AZE) earlier, he now defeats Isa BEKTEMIROV (AUT) 9-0 to enter 60kg quarterfinals 

13:00: The 45kg quarterfinals

Huseyn SAVADOV (AZE) vs. Shakhzod RUZIOKHUNOV (UZB)
Omur YNTYMAK UULU (KGZ) vs. Payam AHMADI (IRI)
Hiro SAKAMOTO (JPN) vs. Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Yevhen POKOVBA (UKR) vs. Beknur MUKAN (KAZ) 

12:40: In the other 71kg action, both European bronze medalists Dimitar RACHEV (BUL) and Maksym RADYK (UKR) are through to the next round. Rachev defeated Ding HUANG (TPE) 10-0 while Radyk beat Amirshoh VAHOBOV (UZB) 9-0. 

12:30: The upset! European champ at 60kg Mahammad GASIMZADE (AZE) began with a great four-pointer and led 7-0 when he tried to hip toss Omar MOURAD (EGY), who turns mid-air to have Gasimzade on his back. He secures the fall.

12:20: Ararat VARDERESYAN (ARM) gives no chance to Asian champion Mohammad MORADI (IRI) at 71kg. Moradi did score three points but cannot match the power of Vardersyan who wins 12-3

12:00: European champion at 45kg Yevhen POKOVBA (UKR) works hard for a 6-2 win over Giorgi KOCHALIDZE (GEO). That's a big hurdle he has crossed early in the tournament.

11:50: U17 Asian silver medalist Payam AHMADI  (IRI) kicks off the day with a top win. He was involved in a few scrambles with Neeraj PATEL (IND) but eventually won 10-2

11:30: The day will kick off with the repechage bouts before the qualification bouts of 45kg, 51kg, 60kg, 71kg and 80kg.

11:25: Welcome to yet another warm day here in Rome. The wrestlers are ready for their qualification bouts.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

International Women's Day: Women ITOs, coaches, members rise at UWW

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 8) -- United World Wrestling has made significant towards encouraging women's participating in spheres of wrestling, whether on or off the mat.

  • In 2024, United World Wrestling sent its highest number of female International Technical Officers (ITOs) to 2024 Paris Olympic Games, marking 22 percent of the total wrestling ITOs.

Referee

  • It also amended its constitution to reserve two more seats for women in the Bureau, thereby bringing the minimum number of women Bureau members to five. The number of vice presidents was also increased from the current number of five to six, including a minimum of two women vice presidents.

Read Full Report: Good governance at UWW - most women ITOs at Paris 2024, reserved seats in Bureau

Marwa AMRI (TUN)

United World Wrestling has been one of the most active international federation in the Women in Sport High-Performance Pathway (WISH) program.

  •  Out of the 124 coaches that benefited from the program, 12 are from wrestling. The coaches are from 60 nations representing the five continents and across the 33 Olympic sports.
     
  • Three WISH alumni -- Happiness BURUTU (NGR), Marwa AMRI (TUN) and Jessica MEDINA (USA) -- made it to the Paris Games as coaches.

Read More: WISH Program in London

UWW

At the Bureau level, a historic milestone was achieved in women wrestling leadership in 2024. There were seven female candidates for the UWW Bureau, the supreme body of wrestling, marking the highest-ever participation by women in the process.

Kuniko Tanioka (JPN), Annette Kure (NOR), Lise Legrand (FRA), Cholpon Sultanbekova (KGZ), Buyana Peljee (MGL), Nadine Pietschmann (SUI) and UWW Vice-President, Natalia Yariguina (RUS) took part in the race for the Bureau role.

This was the first time that Women Lead Sports alumni being elected to NF president positions and the highest registered female candidates for the Bureau in the history. Rodica YAKSI (TUR) was promoted to Vice-President and Ye ZHANG (CHN) has two years left in her term.

Read Full Report: Big step in women’s wrestling leadership with new members in UWW Bureau

In different countries, women have take the leadership roles. The most significant among others is the appointment of Nadine PITSCHMANN (SUI) and Lise LE GRAND (FRA) as the presidents of Swiss and French federations, respectively.

Among other achievements, a women's wrestling camp was organized in India with Olympic champion Erica WIEBE (CAN) offering a masterclass. Young wrestlers from Jordan, Estonia, South Africa, Mauritius, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and hosts India attended the camp.

Read about the IIS-UWW camp: Wiebe inspires next gen at UWW-IIS camp in India