#WrestleTokyo

#WrestleTokyo Olympic Games Preview: 97kg

Thursday, July 22, 2021 - 14:15 By Andrew Hipps

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TOKYO, Japan (July 22) – One of wrestling's greatest rivalries could be renewed in Tokyo if the seeds hold. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM), two of Greco-Roman's biggest stars, enter Tokyo Games as the top two seeds at 97kg. They have combined to win every world or Olympic title in this weight category since 2014.

Aleksanyan, seeded No.2, will be looking to claim his second consecutive Olympic gold medal and third Olympic medal. The Armenian wrestling great won world and Olympic titles every year from 2014 to 2017. The tide turned in 2018 when Evloev knocked off Aleksanyan in the semifinals of the World Championships in Budapest on his way to capturing gold. Evloev repeated as world champion in 2019, beating Aleksanyan for the gold medal.

This past December, Evloev and Aleksanyan faced off in the qualification round of the Individual World Cup, with the Russian star coming out on top 5-1. Evloev would go on to win gold at the Individual World Cup, beating Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI) in the semifinals before topping Alex SZOKE (HUN) in the finals.

In March, Evloev cruised to a gold medal at the Matteo Pellicone Tournament, a Rankings Series event. It marked his third gold medal of the Series. Evloev had two technical superiority victories in three matches and did not surrender a single point in the competition held in Ostia, Italy. A month later, Evloev earned his second European crown, beating Balasz KISS (HUN) 8-0 in the gold medal match and outscoring his four opponents by a combined score of 28-1. The 28-year-old Evloev enters the Tokyo Games as the top seed and odds-on favorite to win gold at 97kg.

Saravi, a 2020 Asian champion, is seeded third at 97kg. The Iranian won a gold medal at the Asian Olympic Qualifier. In June, Saravi dominated at the Poland Open, beating compatriot Mehdi BALIHAMZEHDEH (IRI) in the finals. That victory earned Saravi a spot on Iran's Olympic team.

The fourth seed is Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL), a bronze medalist at the Grand Prix of Zagreb. He was fifth at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan.

Cenk ILDEM (TUR) is one of the more accomplished unseeded wrestlers in this weight category. Ildem was a bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. He is also a three-time world bronze medalist, with his most recent one coming in 2019.

Mihail KAJAIA (SRB) won back-to-back bronze medals at the World Championships in 2018 and 2019. He has also been a silver medalist at the Asian Championships.

Giorgi MELIA (GEO) is a past junior world champion and multiple-time U23 world medalist. He won a gold medal this year at the Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane.

Kiril MILOV (BUL), a 2018 world silver medalist, qualified for the Tokyo Olympics at the European Qualification Tournament held in March.

2019 junior world champion Gabriel ROSILLO KINDELAN (CUB) has earned multiple Pan American medals, including a gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games.

Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) is an accomplished wrestler who won a gold medal at the 2019 Asian Championships and has multiple Asian medals.

97kg
No. 1 Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
No. 2 Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
No. 3 Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI)
No. 4 Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Cenk ILDEM (TUR)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG)
Haikel ACHOURI (TUN)
Gabriel Alejandro ROSILLO KINDELAN (CUB)
Tracy Gangelo HANCOCK (USA)
Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)

#wrestlemanama

Bahrain to host 2026 World Championships

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 12:02 By United World Wrestling Press

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- For the first time in history, the World Championships are headed to Bahrain.

The 2026 World Championships will be held in Manama, Bahrain from October 24 November 1, United World Wrestling announced on Tuesday, during the ongoing World Championships in Zagreb.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

Secretary General of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Faris AL-KOOHEJI attended the press conference at the Arena Zagreb for the historic announcement. UWW President Nenad LALOVIC and Al-Kooheji announced the host together and signed the agreement.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Lalovic said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision.

Bahrain won its first-ever gold medal in Olympics in Paris when Tahzudinov ran-through the 97kg weight class and captured the gold medal. A year before that, he won the world title in the same weight class.

Tazhudinov is also an Asian champion, Asian Games champion and winner of other Ranking Series events.

Lalovic on the fact that wrestling wants to change the host continent of the World Championships more regularly.

 "We also want to change the continent regularly," he said. "A state that can organize the Asian [Youth] Games like they will do now in October, they will not face any problem with the championships, especially that we give all the assistance possible for the execution"

Manama, Bahrain will host the Asian Youth Games in which wrestling will be held from October 28 to 30.

Expressing its gratitude to UWW and readiness to host the mega event, Al-Kooheji said that the tournament will help Bahrain take wrestling to the grassroot levels in the country.

"For us, wrestling is a long term project," Al-Kooheji said. "Wrestling is a growing sport. It's a strategic sport for us. We got a gold medal in Paris, and we're looking to getting more medals. That gold medal started to inspire a lot of people, locally, to pursue wrestling, which is why part of the discussions with United World Wrestling is to even help us add wrestling in schools."

The Bahrain Olympic Committee expects that the World Championships will have a positive impact in growing the sport in the country.

"Strong economic impact [from the event]," he said. "We're going to get lots of travel spectators from Iran, the United States, and other countries as well. It's going to encourage the local community. They will understand more wrestling."