#WrestlePontevedra

U23 World Championships day four semis set

By Vinay Siwach

PONTEVEDRA, Spain (October 20) -- The U23 World Championships enter day four with five more women's wrestling weight classes. Three senior world champions are in action Thursday.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Semifinals for the evening session

53kg
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) vs. Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) 
Haruna OKUNO (JPN) vs. Felicity TAYLOR (USA) 

57kg
Patrycja GIL (POL) vs. Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) vs. Sae NANJO (JPN) 

62kg
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) vs. Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN) vs. Iryna BONDAR (UKR) 

65kg
Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR) vs. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA) vs. Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE) 

72kg
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) vs. Sumire NIIKURA (JPN)
Maria NITU (ROU) vs. Amit ELOR (USA) 

13:00: In the final match of the morning session, returning gold medalist Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) is up against Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA). A quick takedown from Dragutan but Yepez reverses it and scores exposure. She leads 4-2. Dragutan with another attack but Yepez throws her off to make it 6-2. Another takedown and high gut wrench from Yepez give her four points. But Dragtun catches her in the middle of another turn for two points. Yepez scores four more points to make it 14-4. But a Moldova challenge sees it reversed to 13-4. In the second period, Yepez scores two points and secures a place in the semifinal against Zenyep YETGIL (TUR).

12:36: Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN), who won the gold at 65kg in Belgrade, moves to the semifinals with a 10-0 win over Asli DEMIR (TUR).

12:33: Returning bronze medalist Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) is moving into the 53kg semifinals with a 10-5 win over Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX). Yetgil lost some gas at the end but managed to hang on.

12:30: Two-time senior world champion Haruna OKUNO (JPN) is on course for her second U23 title. She reaches the semifinal at 53kg with a 6-0 win over Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER).

12:25: Returning gold medalist Ana GODINEZ (CAN) and Yagmur CAKMAK (TUR) at 62kg. Cakmak got a four-pointer but Godinez controlled the bout to win 14-4.

12:20: World champion Amit ELOR (USA) and returning silver medalist Kendra DACHER (FRA) wrestling on Mat A. Elor with a takedown despite some defense from Dacher. Another takedown for Elor on the edge. Dacher is trying to get to the far leg but Elor is quick to throw them behind. Dacher almost scored two but unreal from Elor to use the split and score a takedown. She leads 6-0 at the break. Dacher with exposure on a scramble but Elor finish on top to make it 7-2. Another takedown for Elor. She ultimately gets the fall with 29 seconds remaining on the clock.

12:00: In a battle of world champions, Sae NANJO (JPN) gets the better of Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) at 57kg. After a slow start, Nanjo scored a takedown via duck under and then used the leg lace to score a 10-0 win.

11:40: Two quick matches at 53kg. Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) wins via technical superiority over Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE) while defending champion Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) gut wrenches Meng HSIEH (TPE) for a 10-0 win.

11:10: World champion Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) shows her class again. She gets the takedown and then leg laces Paulina DANISZ (POL) for a 10-0 win at 62kg.

11:05: A little anti-climatic at 65kg. Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR) and Emma BRUNTIL (USA) were involved in a war at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series but Zelenykh pins Bruntil inside 30 seconds at 65kg.

11:01: Returning world champion Ana GODINEZ (CAN) is made to work hard by Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ) but she ultimately prevails 10-0 and moves into the quarterfinals.

10:55: Former world bronze medalist Sae NANJO (JPN) gets a quick start at 57kg. She pins Maria BAEZ (ESP) inside two minutes

10:30: Welcome to day four of the U23 World Championships in Pontevedra. Five women's weight classes are in action with qualification rounds till the semifinals.

Four seeds, no finals: UWW approves new format for 2024 Olympic qualifiers

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (November 13) — United World Wrestling has approved a new format and seeds for the continental and world qualifiers for the Paris Olympics next year.

All five Paris Olympic Qualifiers next year will have four seeds in each of the weight classes and no gold-medal bouts.

The qualification cycle next year begins with the Pan-American Qualifiers in Acapulco, Mexico from February 28 to March 1. It will be followed by the African & Oceania Qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt from March 22-24, European Qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan from April 4-7 and the Asian Qualifiers from April 19-21 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The World Olympic Qualifier will be held in Istanbul, Turkiye from May 9-12.
 
For the four Continental Qualifiers, the semifinal bouts will serve as the Paris Olympic qualification bouts. No repechage, bronze and gold-medal bouts will be held during these continental events. The finalists of each of the six Olympic weights will earn a spot for the Paris Games and no other quotas will be awarded at these competitions. The morning session will see bouts till the quarterfinals followed by a break and semifinals in the evening. Winners of these semifinals will earn their country a spot for the Paris Games.

Also Read: Paris 2024 Qualified Countries in Freestyle

For the World Qualifier, the semifinal bouts will serve as the Paris Olympic qualification bouts and the winners of these semifinals will earn a quota for the Olympic Games. The two winners of the bronze-medal bouts will compete for the third quota of each weight category. No gold-medal match will be held during this competition.

It will be held in a two-day format with the repechage scheduled on the second day. All competing wrestlers on day two will have to go through weigh-ins and wrestle in repechage to make it to the bronze-medal bout. The bronze medalists will then wrestle-off to win a Paris Olympic ticket.

Also Read: Nations Qualified for Paris 2024 in Greco-Roman

The UWW Bureau arrived at the decision keeping in mind the well being of the wrestlers and have a high level of competition at the Olympic qualifiers and the Paris Olympics next year.

144 wrestlers will look to qualify their countries for the Paris Olympics 2024 at the Pan-Am, African & Oceania, European and Asian Olympic Qualifiers while 54 more will earn the spot at the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkiye.

Also Read: Countries Qualified for Paris Olympics in Women’s Wrestling

The first qualification for the 2024 Olympics was achieved at the World Championships in September in Belgrade with 90 wrestlers receiving the quotas for the Games.

All the action from the Olympic Qualifiers will be live on UWW+. For more details of events, browse our events page.