#Trnava2018

World Champs Susaki, Larroque Lead #Trnava2018 Field

By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 2) - The final women's wrestling entries for the #Trnava2018 World Championships have been submitted and the most surprising entry comes from reigning senior-level world champion, Yui SUSAKI (JPN).

Susaki, Japan's 19-year-old superstar won three straight Cadet World Championships before heading to Paris last year to claim her first senior-level World Championship, defeating current world No.1 Alina VUC (ROU), 14-4. 

The 2018 Junior World Championships will be Susaki's first junior-level competition ever. 

Another surprising entry comes from France's U23 world champion and 2017 world bronze medalist, Koumba LARROQUE. Larroque enters her first junior-level competition since winning the 2016 Junior World Championship gold medal. 

Reigning champions Sae NANJO (JPN) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) also make their return to the Junior World Championships with hopes of winning back-to-back gold medals.

ROSTERS
AZE
50kg - Yasaman MAJIDLI         
53kg - Tatyana VARANSOVA  
65kg - Jeyla NAGHIZADE  

BLR
50kg - Viktoryia APALONIK    
53kg - Yuliya ZHAUNERYK      
55kg - Darya SINKAVETS        
59kg - Maryia HULIDA
62kg - Krystsina SAZYKINA     
65kg - Hanna SADCHANKA     
68kg - Yauheniya ANDREICHYKAVA   
72kg - Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA         

BRA
72kg - Thais DE LUCAS DE OLIVEIRA  

BUL
50kg - Raymyal ZIBEROVA   
53kg - Kremena PETROVA          
55kg - Sezen BELBEROVA           
57kg - Aleksandrina KASHINOVA  
62kg - Yuliana YANEVA        
68kg - Siyka IVANOVA        

CAN
50kg - Samantha ROMANO           
53kg - Jayd DAVIS
57kg - Hannah TAYLOR    
59kg - Sara BRINKAC   
62kg - Xiao LIU    
65kg - Megan FENDELET            
68kg - Dejah SLATER   

CHN
50kg - Yumei ZHONGCHN
53kg - Yuhong ZHONG          
55kg - Jiajing HOU     
57kg - Qi ZHANG       
59kg - Xiuyun CHEN   
62kg - Xinyuan SUN   
65kg - Yue ZHANG     
68kg - Man ZHANG    
76kg - Yuanyuan HUANG      

EGY
50kg - Nada MOHAMED     
65kg - Mona AHMED       

France's U23 World Champion, Koumba LARROQUE. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne.)

FRA
72kg - Koumba LARROQUE     

GER
50kg - Ellen RIESTERER          
55kg - Anne NUERNBERGER
57kg - Serena BOELKE
59kg - Debora LAWNITZAK     
62kg - Janny SOMMERMEYER
65kg - Eyleen SEWINA

HUN
55kg - Szimonetta SZEKER      
57kg - Tamara DOLLAK          
59kg - Erika BOGNAR
62kg - Viktoria FELHO
76kg - Bernadett NAGY         

IND
50kg - Shivani PAWAR
53kg - Swati SHINDE   
55kg - Reena REENA   
57kg - Mansi MANSI   
59kg - Sangeeta SANGEETA   
62kg - Anshu ANSHU  
65kg - Tina TINA         
68kg - Divya KAKRAN  
72kg - Sonika HOODA
76kg - Karuna KARUNA         

ITA
50kg - Emanuela LIUZZI         
53kg - Carmen DI DIO
55kg - Teresa LUMIA 
59kg - Morena DE VITA         
62kg - Aurora CAMPAGNA    
65kg - Elena ESPOSITO          
72kg - Enrica RINALDI
76kg - Eleni PJOLLAJ   

Reigning Junior World Champion, Sae NANJO (JPN). (Photo by Marion Stein)

JPN
50kg - Yui SUSAKI      
53kg - Umi IMAI         
55kg - Saki IGARASHI
57kg - Andoriahanako SAWA
59kg - Sae NANJO      
62kg - Rin KONDO      
62kg - Atena KODAMA           
65kg - Miyu IMAI       
68kg - Miwa MORIKAWA       
72kg - Naruha MATSUYUKI   
76kg - Yasuha MATSUYUKI    

KAZ
50kg - Marina ZAKSHEVSKAYA          
53kg - Ellada MAKHYADDINOVA       
55kg - Aigerim IBRASHEVA   
57kg - Zhanerke ASSANOVA 
59kg - Yekaterina FIRSTOVA 
62kg - Irina KUZNETSOVA     
65kg - Albina KAIRGELDINOVA          
68kg - Valeriya GONCHAROVA         
72kg - Gulnaz ZHAPPAROVA 
76kg - Inkara ZHANATAYEVA

KOR
50kg - Miran CHEON  
53kg - Haeyeong IM   
55kg - Eunyoung PARK          
57kg - Jeongae BARK 
59kg - Hwa Young SUNG       
62kg - Ohyoung HA    
65kg - Hyerim YUN    
68kg - Hyeonyeong PARK      
72kg - Jisu KIM           

LTU
72kg - Kamile GAUCAITE       

Anastasia NICHITA, 2018 Junior European Champion. (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne)

MDA
53kg - Mariana DRAGUTAN  
59kg - Anastasia NICHITA      

MGL
50kg - Anudari NANDINTSETSEG      
53kg - Enkhtsetseg BATBAATAR       
55kg - Khaliunaa BAYARAA   
57kg - Enkhtuvshin BALJINNYAM      
65kg - Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN     
68kg - Davaanasan ENKH AMAR       
72kg - Namuunzaya BATBOLD          
76kg - Ariunjargal GANBAT   

NOR
59kg - Laura AAK           
62kg - Hedda STRAND  

POL
50kg - Magdalena MAJOS       
53kg - Alicja CZYZOWICZ       
55kg - Patrycja GIL     
57kg - Magdalena GLODEK   
65kg - Wiktoria CHOLUJ        
72kg - Kamila KULWICKA   

PUR
55kg - Gabriela RAMOS DIAZ  
59kg - Andribeth RIVERA BELLIARD  

ROU
50kg - Stefania PRICEPUTU   
53kg - Andreea ANA
72kg - Maria NITU        

Reigning Junior World Champion, Khanum VELIEVA (RUS). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

RUS
50kg - Veronika GURSKAYA  
53kg - Mariia TIUMEREKOVA
55kg - Aleksandra NITSENKO
57kg - Viktoriia VAULINA       
59kg - Alina KAZYMOVA        
62kg - Daria BOBRULKO        
65kg - Alena TIMOFEEVA      
68kg - Khanum VELIEVA        
72kg - Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO      
76kg - Elmira KHALAEVA       

SVK
53kg - Nina KOLLAROVA        
59kg - Reka BACSFAIOVA      
62kg - Kristina OROSZOVA    
72kg - Zsuzsanna MOLNAR    

SWE
57kg - Sara LINDBORG        
62kg - Linnea SVENSSON     
68kg - Tindra SJOEBERG        
76kg - Denise MAKOTA STROEM       

TPE
50kg - Meng HSIEH    
53kg - Ya Ling PENG   
59kg - Yu Han CHENG
72kg - Hui Tsz CHANG
 

TUN
50kg - Sarra HAMDI   

55kg - Siwar BOUSETTA        
57kg - Khouloud EL OUNI       
62kg - Fatma INOUBLI
68kg - Rihem AYARI   

TUR
50kg - Aynur ERGE     
53kg - Zeynep YETGIL
55kg - Nurife DUMAN
57kg - Ozge FINDIKCI 
59kg - Sule KABAK     
62kg - Gamze Nur ADAKAN   
65kg - Asli DEMIR       
68kg - Kadriye AKSOY
72kg - Tugba KILIC      
76kg - Aysegul OZBEGE         

UKR
50kg - Mariia VYNNYK
53kg - Veronika RYABOVOLOVA       
55kg - Khrystyna Zoryana DEMKO     
57kg - Alina AKOBIIA  
59kg - Tetiana RIZHKO           
62kg - Anhelina LYSAK
65kg - Iryna KOLIADENKO      
68kg - Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA  
72kg - Romana VOVCHAK      
76kg - Anna TISLICHENKO     

Reigning Cadet World Champion, Macey KILTY (USA). (Photo by Max Rose-Fyne) 

USA
50kg - Alleida MARTINEZ       
53kg - Alisha HOWK        
55kg - Ronna HEATON
57kg - Alexandra HEDRICK       
59kg - Brenda REYNA  
62kg - Alexandria LILES          
65kg - Jayden LAURENT
68kg - Macey KILTY       
72kg - Alyvia FISKE     

UZB
50kg - Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA          
55kg - Khodicha NAJIMOVA  
59kg - Nabira ESENBAEVA    
65kg - Bakhtigul BALTANIYAZOVA

#BeachWrestling

Dakar to Mexico, Beach Wrestling Hits the Right Notes in 2024

By Vinay Siwach

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 6) -- In 2024, Beach Wrestling had a momentous year. From Dakar to Rio de Janeiro, there were championships and Games. And the World Series traveled from Mexico to Greece.

The second edition of the African Championships in Beach Wrestling was held in Dakar, Senegal in June. Dakar will host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games with Beach Wrestling being one of the main sports. The city also hosted the Beach Sports Festival.

Apart from the Dakar event, the Beach Wrestling calendar was packed with international tournaments, thanks to UWW's efforts to develop the sport.

The Beach Wrestling Committee also made a few changes to the sport, bringing in the challenge and the activity clock from 2024. This meant that two additional ways to get one point in Beach Wrestling were added: if a wrestler has been called passive and fails to score points during the 30-second activity period, his opponent will receive a point, and the wrestler whose opponent requested a challenge and the challenge is unsuccessful will receive a point.

Each wrestler is entitled to at least two unsuccessful challenges per event — one during the group stage and eliminations and another during the medal match.

For the first time, the Pan-Am Championships were held in the U15, U17, U20 and U23 age-groups. The U15 event was held in El Salvador and Mexico dominated the tournament by winning the title in both men's and women's events. The U17 event was in Dominican Republic with Ecuador winning the men's title and Puerto Rico winning the women's title.

At the U20 Pan-Ams in Peru, Ecuador continued its dominance with the men's title while Mexico bounced back and won the women's title. In Colombia for the U23 event, the hosts won both the men's and women's team titles.

Similarly, the European Championships in the U15, U17 and U20 age groups were held in Romania, a country which has taken keenly to the sport. Romania was so dominant in the competitions that it won the men's and women's team titles in five of the six categories. Only the U20 men's team title was won by Moldova.

UWW's commitment to growing the sport saw a new country host a Beach Wrestling event in Dakar. The African Championships were attended by over 100 wrestlers with the competition going over two days. Hosts Senegal emerged as the best country in both men's and women's categories. It won three gold medals and one silver in each category, combining for eight medals in eight weight classes.

A documentary capturing the essence of Senegal, promoting culture and rich tradition in wrestling, was also produced by UWW.

The U17 World Championships in Beach Wrestling was held in Greece this year along with the World Championships in the U20 age group.

The United States, which has been promoting the sport extensively on the national level, won its first-ever world title as the women captured the team title in the U17 age-group, thanks to the three silver medals it won.

Ukraine emerged as the best team in men's, winning the title over Romania which won two gold medals. But Ukraine had a better performance overall and it pipped Romania for the top spot.

In U20, Moldova destroyed the field, winning three gold medals and the team title in men's while Ukraine made amends by winning the women's title, which it lost at the U17 level.

Beach Wrestling World Series

The fifth edition of the Beach Wrestling World Series saw a remarkable start in Mexico in March along with the Pan-Am Championships. The first stop saw Mexico on the board with two gold medals in the women's category. The men's was more scattered with the U.S., Guatemala, Argentina and Venezuela winning gold medals.

The second stop of the series travelled to a familiar Saint-Laurent-Du-Var which saw records tumbling. The highlight of the tournament was Moldova's growing stature in Beach Wrestling.

Two wrestlers -- Vasile DIACON (MDA) and Traian CAPATINA (MDA) -- won gold medals. Diacon ultimately emerged as the best 80kg wrestler in the world and secured first place in the final rankings. Capatina was second in the final rankings in 90kg.

Romania hosted the third spot and the battle between the hosts and Ukraine in the women's category lived up to expectations. Ukraine won two gold medals and Romania won one out of four available. In men's, Capatina repeated as the gold medalist in 90kg and Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) continued his winning run at +90kg.

The fourth stop was in Greece, and not much changed from the other stops. The glittering beaches saw winners from Romania, Ukraine, the United States, Turkiye, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It all came down to Porec, Croatia for the finale. With ranking points up for grabs, it meant that the world champions would be decided in Porec.

The final stop in Porec decided the winners of the series. Ana Marie PIRVU (ROU) was the top wrestler in 50kg, Anastasiya KRAVCHENKO (UKR) in 60kg, Oksana HERHEL (UKR) in 70kg and Eliana BOMMARITO (USA) in +70kg. Bommarito was the only wrestler across categories to maintain a 100 percent record -- winning four gold medals.

In men's Yunus COSKUN (TUR) won the top spot in 70kg, Vasile DIACON (MDA) in 80kg, Ibrahim YUSUBOV (AZE) in 90kg and the evergreen Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) in +90kg.