World Cup

USA, Azerbaijan Announced as Hosts for World Cups

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 20) – In a historic step, United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling will host a combined Men's and Women's World Cups in Iowa, USA.

UWW announced the host of the three World Cups after a Bureau meeting held at its headquarters in Switzerland. The Bureau approved the combined World Cup for '22 and '23 in the USA, while the 2022 Greco-Roman World Cup was provisionally awarded to Baku, Azerbaijan pending a venue inspection visit.

UWW President Nenad LALOVIC said that the organization continues to progress with a dynamic host city process and the 2022 calendar is something the fans can look forward to.

“We are pleased to finalize the 2022 calendar and looking forward to high-level events with elite competition,” Lalovic said. "We continue to progress the sport with a dynamic host city process which works with organizers in a partnership approach.

"The 4 ranking Series events, Continental Championships, a World Championships in Belgrade, and an updated World Cup format will certainly be moments to look forward to in 2022.”

The '22 World Cup in Iowa is scheduled for December 10-11, while the '23 competition will take place December 9-10. The Greco-Roman World Cup in Baku is slated for November 5-6.

"USA Wrestling is excited to once again bring one of the most important wrestling competitions on the planet to the Coralville/Iowa City community, which is truly an international wrestling hotbed," Rich Bender, USA Wrestling Executive Director, said. "We are extremely pleased that we will be able to showcase the world's best men's and women's freestyle wrestlers in the same location. The atmosphere will be electric and fans will not want to miss this action."

The '22 World Cups, and moving forward, will be held in an updated format from earlier editions. The top five teams from the World Championships earn an invitation to the tournament. In addition, United World Wrestling will comprise the sixth team with the remaining wrestlers who participated in the World Championships.

USA Wrestling has hosted the men's freestyle World Cup 30 times in the past -- the most for any nation. Coralville, Iowa, will become the 10th USA city to host the tournament.

The other US cities which have hosted the World Cup include Toledo, Ohio (17 times); Los Angeles, California (three times); Chattanooga, Tenn. (twice); Spokane, Washington (twice); Stillwater, Oklahoma (twice); Baltimore, Maryland.; Fairfax, Va., Boise, Idaho and Iowa City, Iowa.

The Bureau provisionally approved Baku, Azerbaijan as the Greco-Roman World Cup host pending a venue inspection visit. The tournament will be held on November 5-6. 

If approved, the Greco-Roman World Cup will return to UWW's calendar after five years, when Abadan City, Iran, hosted the competition in 2017.

Furthermore, Baku will return to the UWW's event calendar after a long absence. Apart from the Golden Grand Prix final, Baku last hosted a UWW event back in 2012 – the Cadet World Championships.

For a full list of United World Wrestling's events, please visit uww.org's event page

#WrestleBudapest

Yazdani, Jamalov reach final; China dominates WW in Budapest

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 7) -- With three Freestyle and four Women's Wrestling weight classes in action, the Budapest Ranking Series enters day two. Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) will be competing for the first time since his surgery.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER

13:00: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) with some high-paced action in his 86kg semifinal to blank Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) 10-0. He will wrestle for the gold medal at 86kg against Trent HIDLAY (USA).

12:50: ANTIM (IND) hangs on! Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) went all out for a takedown in the final seconds but Antim kept her at bay. A 3-1 win for Antim and she will wrestle for gold at 53kg against Jonna MALMGREN (SWE), a rematch of the bronze medal bout from the World Championships.

12:45: Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL) seems to have upped her game since that fifth-place finish at the Asian Championships. She beats Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN) 12-8 in an action-packed bout.

12:35: Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) is in the 53kg final without wrestling in Budapest. First, Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) pulled out injured and now Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) is injured.

12:30: Incredible bout between Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) and Anshu MALIK (IND) at 57kg. Nichita trailed 4-3 but she got a stepout and Anshu was cautioned for fleeing which gave Nichita a 5-4 lead with 19 seconds on the clock. Anshu continues the pressure and scores a takedown on the edge to claim a 6-5 lead and the win.

12:15: Kexin HONG (CHN) with a brutal lace over Anhelina LYSAK (POL) to finish the 57kg bout 10-0. 59kg world champion then scores an 11-1 win over Luisa VALVERDE (ECU) to advance to the semifinal.

12:10: Ali Abbas REZAEI (IRI) beats Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) 5-0 in the 74kg quarterfinal. Bayramov was warned for passivity in the first period, he committed two defensive fouls in the second as Rezaei built a 3-0 lead. Bayramov tried getting some opening but Rezaei solid in defense and finished with a solid takedown.

12:00: Jiang ZHU (CHN) blanks VINESH (IND) 5-0. Two counter takedowns for Zhu and a point for Vinesh's inactivity were the points for Zhu. No openings for Vinesh in that bout.

11:55: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) and Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) have set up a semifinal at 86kg. Yazdani with a high-scoring 12-2 win over Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN) while Dauletbekov with a controlled 3-0 win over Patrik PUESPOEKI (HUN).

11:50: Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL) needs to dig deep to keep Yu ZHANG (CHN) at bay. Zhang kept the pressure high even when trailing 4-3 but Dolgorjav hit a counter to win 6-3 at 50kg.

11:30: Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) pulls out of her bout against Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) at 53kg. Malmgren will now wrestle Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) in the semifinal.

11:25:  Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) is looking to grab the 74kg spot for the Paris Olympics for Uzbekistan over Bekzod ABDURAKHAMANOV (UZB) who qualified the weight. He begins that journey with a 5-0 win over Anthony MONTERO (VEN) in Budapest.   

11:15: Quick 10-0 win for ANTIM (IND) over Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB) at 53kg. She sets up a semifinal against Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL). 

11:10: VINESH (IND) begins her 50kg campaign in Budapest with a 10-0 technical superiority over Alisson CARDOZO (COL). She sets up a quarterfinal against Jian ZHU (CHN) which will prove to be a big test. 

11:00: No clutch comeback from Myles AMINE (SMR) this time. Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ) holds on to a 3-1 lead and beat Amine with that scoreline at 86kg.

10:50: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) was in danger position twice in the match against Ethan RAMOS (PUR) but bailed out both times to race to a 13-2 victory over Ramos who seems to have hurt his back. Once the wrestlers are off mat, Ramos is carried in a stretcher as he is unable to walk.

10:30: Ranking points up for grabs, Olympics opponents facing each other and some Paris 2024 line-ups to be finalized. Day two of the Ranking Series in Budapest has everything to offer.