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WATCH: UWW's Top 10 Most-Viewed Bouts of '21

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 4) -- With the Olympic Games and World Championships held in the same year for the first time, wrestling fans got a chance to watch the stars of the sport not once but twice in 2021. As fans continue to watch and enjoy these battles, here's the list of the top-10 most-viewed bouts of 2021 from the United World Wrestling's YouTube channel.

10 -- European Olympic Qualifiers 65 kg: Haji ALIYEV (AZE) vs Vagzen TEVANYAN (ARM)

 

9 -- European Championships GR 130 kg: Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) vs Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

 

8 -- Tokyo Olympics FS 97kg: Abdulrashid SADULAEV (ROC) vs Kyle SNYDER (USA)

 

7 -- World Championships WW 62kg: Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) vs Kayla MIRACLE (USA)

 

6 -- Asian Olympic Qualifiers GR 77kg: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) vs Shohei YABIKU (JPN)

 

5 -- Asian Olympic Qualifiers WW 50kg: Seema BISLA (IND) vs Yui SUSAKI (JPN)

 

4 -- World Championships WW 68kg: Rin MIYAJI (JPN) vs Meerim ZHUMANAZAROV (KGZ)

 

3 -- Asian Olympic Qualifiers FS 65kg: Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI) vs Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)

 

2 -- World Championships FS 86kg: David TAYLOR (USA) vs Hasan YAZDANI (IRI)

 

1 -- World Championships FS 97kg: Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RWF) vs Kyle SNYDER (USA)

Akgul elected President of Turkish Wrestling Federation

By Eric Olanowski

ANKARA, Turkiye (December 18) --- Taha AKGUL (TUR) today was elected the President of the Turkish Wrestling Federation at the 6th Regular and Financial General Assembly of the Turkish Wrestling Federation held at the Anadolu Hotels Esenboğa Thermal in Ankara.

Akgul retired from his wrestling career four short months ago at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after successfully winning his third Olympic medal. The 34-year-old native of Sivas, Turkiye, won Olympic gold in Rio 2016 and then back-to-back bronze medals at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics. Akgul is also a three-time world gold medalist and 11-time European champion.

"I am very happy to have been elected president by the representatives. Together, with my team, I will do my best for the sport of wrestling with passion and hard work,” Akgul stated to United World Wrestling shortly after the elections.

According to the Turkish Wrestling Federation’s Instagram page, Akgul received 189 out of 288 votes. Former three-time world champion Celcuk CEBI (TUR) received 92 of the remaining 99 votes, while the remaining seven were nullified.

“The full members of the new board of directors of the federation under the presidency of Akgul are as follows: Mesut Ozarslan, Abdullah Şanli, Arslan Narin, Murat Şahin, Huseyin Kaya, Şems Sezal, İsmail Yagbat, İhsan Gurol Guey, İbrahim Demirturkoğgu and Ahmet Yildirim,” stated the TWF.

For more information regarding Akgul's election and other news from Turkiye, see the Turkish Wrestling Federation's Instagram page.