#YasarDogu

Yasar Dogu Set to Welcome Wrestling's Biggest Stars

By Eric Olanowski

ISTANBUL, Turkey (July 1) -- The most anticipated freestyle Ranking Series event of the year, the Yasar Dogu, will take place July 11 to 14 in Istanbul, and more than 275 wrestlers from 21 countries are expected to make the journey to Turkey's most populated city. The goal remains simple: try to pocket the remaining Ranking Series points before heading to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, for September's World Championships. 

Since the Budapest World Championships, wrestlers have been stashing away Ranking Series points with hopes of becoming one of the forty top-four seeded wrestlers come September. The Yasar Dogu leaves those on the cusp of earning a top-four seed one last opportunity to gain those additional much-needed Ranking Series points. 

Heading into Istanbul, five wrestlers have seized the No. 1 seed, 17 wrestlers have cemented at least a top-four seed, leaving 23 seeds open for the taking in Istanbul. Though they're not all entered, there are still 150 wrestlers who could steal a seed from a current top-four seeded wrestler if they were to win a gold medal in a weight class with 20+ wrestlers in Turkey. 

Wrestling begins July 11 and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

Freestyle

57kg
Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)
Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL)
Georgi Valentinov VANGELOV (BUL)
Gamal Abdelnaser Hanafy MOHAMED (EGY)
Kumar RAVI (IND)
Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA)
Minir REDJEPI (MKD)
Haljit OSMAN (MKD)
Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK)
Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Saban KIZILTAS (TUR)

61kg
Mohamed Al Amine LAKEL (ALG)
Mirjalal HASAN ZADA (AZE)
Asgar MAMMADALIYEV (AZE)
Yasser Eshhata Abady AHMED (EGY)
Rahul Balasaheb AWARE (IND)
Sandeep TOMAR (IND)
Utkarsh Pandharinath KALE (IND)
Behnam Eshagh EHSANPOOR (IRI)
Elmedin SEJFULAU (MKD)
Selehattin SERT (TUR)
Munir Recep AKTAS (TUR)
Recep TOPAL (TUR)
Tyler Lee GRAFF (USA)


Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) enters the Yasar Dogu as the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the world at 65kg. (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

65kg
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Haji Mohamad ALI (BRN)
Fathi Tarek Fathi Attia ISMAIL (EGY)
Ismail MUSUKAEV (HUN)
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Sonba Tanaji GONGANE (IND)
Peiman Bioukagha BIABANI (IRI)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Tilek SHARSHEEV (KGZ)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Masoud NIAZI (NED)
Kaireddine BEN TELILI (TUN)
Cengizhan ERDOGAN (TUR)
Selahattin KILICSALLAYAN (TUR)
Mehmet Emin OGUT (TUR)
Zain Allen RETHERFORD (USA)
John Michael DIAKOMIHALIS (USA)

70kg
Fares LAKEL (ALG)
Murtazali Raxmatullayevic MUSLIMOV (AZE)
Gitinomagomed GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Aghahuseyn MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Adam BATIROV (BRN)
Mihail Iliev GEORGIEV (BUL)
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Rajnesh RAJNEESH (IND)
Meisam Abolfazl NASIRI (IRI)
Adilet MAMATAEV (KGZ)
Riad REDJEPI (MKD)
Omer Faruk CAYIR (TUR)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Mustafa KAYA (TUR)
James Malcolm GREEN (USA)

Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) enters the Yasar Dogu as the second-ranked wrestler in the world at 74kg. The Italian sits four points behind top-ranked Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS). (Photo: Gabor Martin)

74kg
Ishak BOUKHORS (ALG)
Toghrul ASGAROV (AZE)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Miroslav Stefanov KIROV (BUL)
Daniel ANTAL (HUN)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Zsombor Istvan GULYAS (HUN)
Amit Kumar DHANKHAR (IND)
Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI)
Mostafa Mohabbali HOSSEINKHANI (IRI)
Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)
Mansur SYRGAK UULU (KGZ)
Mohamed SESAY (SLE)
Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Maher GHANMI (TUN)
Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)
Yakup GOR (TUR)
Jordan Ernest BURROUGHS (USA)

79kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Aleksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE)
Jabrayil HASANOV (AZE)
Benjamin SEZGIN (GER)
Botond LUKACS (HUN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Parveen RANA (IND)
Bahman Mohammad TEYMOURI (IRI)
Foday KARGBO (SLE)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Ramazan Ishak SAR I(TUR)
Ender COSKUN (TUR)
Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR)
Alexander David DIERINGER (USA)

Even though he's locked up his No. 1 seed for the World Championships, top-ranked Fatih ERDIN (TUR) will still wrestle at the Yasar Dogu. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

86kg
Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE)
Svetoslav Zhivkov DIMITROV (BUL)
Khaled Masoud Ismail ELMOATAMADAWI (EGY)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Patrik SZUROVSZKI (HUN)
Richard Ferenc LIGETI (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Hassan Aliazam YAZDANICHARATI (IRI)
Aligadzhi GAMIDGADZHIEV (KGZ)
Muhammad ALI (PAK)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN)
Selim YASAR (TUR)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Fatih ERDIN (TUR)
James Patrick DOWNEY III (USA)

92kg
Mohammed FARDJ (ALG)
Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE)
Bendeguz TOTH (HUN)
Viky VIKY (IND)
Alireza Mohammad KARIMIMACHIANI (IRI)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Erhan YAYLACI (TUR)
Ibrahim BOLUKBASI (TUR)
J'Den Michael Tbory COX (USA)

97kg
Aslanbek ALBOROV (AZE)
Hosam Mohamed Mostafa MERGHANY (EGY)
Pavlo OLIINYK (HUN)
Balasz Attila JUHASZ (HUN)
Satywart KADIAN (IND)
Reza Mohammad Ali YAZDANI (IRI)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ)
Mohamed BUNDU (SLE)
Rustam ISKANDARI (TJK)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Baki SAHIN (TUR)
Fatih YASARLI (TUR)
Kyle Frederick SNYDER (USA)

Taha AKGUL (TUR) needs to at least score one Ranking Series to stop a potential world semifinals matchup between his biggest rival, Geno PETRIASHVILI (Photo: Sachiko Hotaka)

125kg
Seyed Mohammadreza AZARSHAKIB (AZE)
Khaled Omr Zaki Mohamed ABDALLA (EGY)
Ahmed Mahmoud Elsayed Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
Mihaly NAGY (HUN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Komeil Nemat GHASEMI (IRI)
Farkhod ANAKULOV (TJK)
Taha AKGUL (TUR)
Abdullah OMAC (TUR)
Fatih CAKIROGLU (TUR)
Nicholas Edward GWIAZDOWSKI (USA)

#WrestleParis

UWW reallocates 16 Olympic Games Paris 2024 quotas

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 27) -- United World Wrestling has reallocated 16 wrestling quotas for Paris 2024. This decision was taken after the International Olympic Committee, last week, released a list of eligible athletes in the first group of sports that have finished their qualifying process for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

The IOC had approved 16 out of the 26 Individual Neutral Athletes who won the Paris Olympic spots in various qualifying tournaments of UWW. However, six wrestlers did not accept the invitation to Paris 2024 despite being deemed eligible by the IOC.

The 16 reallocations were carried out by UWW to the next highest-ranked eligible NOC, not yet qualified, at the event at which the quota place was obtained, respecting the maximum quota per gender and per NOC.

The NOCs must confirm the reallocated quotas respecting the deadlines imposed by United World Wrestling.

List of Paris 2024 quotas reallocations

Freestyle
57kg - North Macedonia (Baku)
74kg - China (Belgrade)
74kg - Italy (Baku)
97kg - Ukraine (Baku)
97kg - Moldova (Baku)
125kg - Poland (Baku)

Greco-Roman
60kg - Romania (Istanbul)
77kg - United States (Istanbul)
87kg - Georgia (Istanbul)
130kg - Bulgaria (Baku)
130kg - Estonia (Istanbul)

Women's Wrestling
50kg - Lithuania (Baku)
53kg - Greece (Belgrade)
57kg - Ukraine (Baku)
57kg - Mongolia (Istanbul)
62kg - Sweden (Istanbul)

In Freestyle, the 57kg reallocation went to North Macedonia as Vladimir EGOROV (MKD). He finished as the highest-ranked wrestler after the quota winners at the European Olympic Qualifier in Baku.

Two 74kg quotas were reallocated. The spot from the World Championships in Belgrade was awarded to China as Feng LU (CHN) was the best-ranked non-qualified wrestler. Originally, Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) finished as the best-ranked wrestler but he qualified Azerbaijan from Baku hence making him ineligible for the reallocation.

The second reallocation was for the Baku quota after an approved wrestler did not accept the invitation. The Baku spot will now go to Italy.

Similarly, there were two reallocations at 97kg, both from Baku. Ukraine and Moldova got the Paris 2024 spots from the European OG Qualifier. Ukraine got the spot despite Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) being the next best-ranked wrestler in Baku because the Polish wrestler qualified his country in Istanbul. The next best after Ukraine was Moldova which will have an Olympian in Freestyle for the first time in eight years. Moldova was the beneficiary of a declined invitation from an approved wrestler at this weight class.

At 125kg, Poland was awarded the reallocation quota from the European OG Qualifier in Baku.

Greco-Roman saw the reallocations awarded to Romania at 60kg, the United States at 77kg, Georgia at 87kg , and Bulgaria and Estonia at 130kg.

Romania, the United States and Georgia finished the best-ranked wrestlers after the qualified wrestlers at the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul while the 130kg quota to Bulgaria was reallocated from Baku. Azerbaijan and Romania were the next best wrestlers in Baku but both NOCs qualified the weight class in Istanbul, leaving Bulgaria getting the spot.

The second 130kg was reallocated from Istanbul with Estonia being the next best non-qualified NOC at the event after an approved wrestler declined the invitation.

Women's Wrestling saw five Paris 2024 spots being reallocated. Lithuania, Greece, Ukraine, Mongolia and Sweden were the beneficiaries of the reallocations.

Lithuania is set to send its first-ever wrestler in Women's Wrestling after it got the allocation at 50kg from the European OG Qualifier in Baku. Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER) finished third in Baku but she qualified Germany from Istanbul, and the Baku quota was transferred to Lithuania.

The 53kg reallocation was from the Belgrade World Championships after an approved wrestler did not accept the invitation. The quota will now go to Greece as it had the next-best wrestler at the event after the quota-winning wrestlers.

Two 57kg quotas were reallocated, one each from Baku and Istanbul. Ukraine received the 57kg quota from Baku after Alina HRUSHYNA (UKR) finished third at the European OG Qualifier in Baku. The second reallocated quota at 57kg went to Mongolia after an approved wrestler did not accept the invitation to participate in the Paris Games despite being deemed eligible by the IOC.

Mongolia had the best wrestler at 57kg in Istanbul and with this reallocation, it will become the third country, after Japan and the United States, to qualify in all six weight classes of Women's Wrestling for Paris 2024.

At 62kg, Sweden will now have two wrestlers in women's wrestling after it received a quota reallocated from Istanbul. Sweden was the best NOC after the qualified wrestlers at the World Olympic Qualifier. The country already has a spot at 53kg from the World Championships.

The deadline for the AINs to accept the invitation for Paris 2024 was June 20 after which UWW proceeded with the reallocations. The AINs who have accepted the invitation have agreed to the Conditions of Participation applicable to all participants that contain a commitment to respect the Olympic Charter, including “the peace mission of the Olympic Movement”.

The following are the eligible AINs who accepted the invitation to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024:

Wrestlers with a Russian passport:

Freestyle
Nachin MONGUSH
Shamil MAMEDOV
Arslan BAGAEV
Abdulla KURBANOV

Greco-Roman
Alan OSTAEV
Magomed MURTAZALIEV

Women's Wrestling
Natalya MALYSHEVA
Alina KASABIEVA
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA

Wrestlers with a Belarusian passport

Greco-Roman
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU