CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (May 7) – A disgruntled Hamid SORYAN (IRI) walked away from a match-up of world champions at the Nikola Petrov tourney in Sofia and surrendered his No.1 position in this month’s United World Wrestling rankings for Greco-Roman.

Soryan, who won his sixth world title last September in Tashkent, had been ranked No.1 at 59kg since July 2014, but walked off the mats in Sofia midway through his quarterfinal bout with 2013 world champion Ivo ANGELOV (BUL).

The London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist was apparently unhappy with the officiating after a takedown that would have given Soryan a 3-2 lead was not allowed.  The bout ended with 1:39 remaining to wrestle and Angelov leading 3-1.

With the loss, Soryan slipped to No.3 in the rankings behind world silver medalist Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) and Angelov, who climbed from No.5 to second in the rankings.

Along with Angelov, Bulgarian teammates Konstantine STAS (66kg) and Daniel ALEKSANDROV (80kg) went from unranked to No.10 and No.14 in their respective weight categories for the tournament hosts.

Meanwhile, Armenian world champions Arsen JULFALAKYAN (75kg) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (98kg) flexed their muscles for convincing wins in Sofia. Julfalakyan is currently ranked second behind 2013 world and London 2012 Olympic champion KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR), while Aleksanyan sits alone atop the 98kg heap.

Earlier in the month, 2011 world champion Riza KAYAALP (130kg) and world bronze medalist Cenk ILDEM (98kg) led the charge for the locals as Turkish wrestlers won six of the eight titles on offer at the Vehbi Emre tourney in Istanbul.

Kayaalp firmed up his No.2 position behind five-time world champion Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) at 130kg, while Ildem’s victory lifted him to No.2 at 98kg behind Aleksanyan.

Also for Turkey, 2013 world bronze medalist Emrah KUS (75kg) and former world student bronze medal winner Abdulsamet UGURLU (66kg), who added a bronze medal in Sofia, both went from unranked to No.9 in their respective polls.

Wrestlers in the rankings are listed by name, country code, most recent or most notable result over the last 12 months, and their position in the previous rankings.

59kg – Three-time Granma Cup winner Maikel ANACHE LAMOTH (CUB) rolled up three wins by technical fall with a combined score of 26-0 and stopped last year’s Pan Am bronze medalist Spenser MANGO (USA), 3-1, for his first Pan American championship crown since 2011.

1. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – World No.2 (2)
2. Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (5)
3. Hamid SORYAN (IRI) – World No.1 (1)
4. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – World No.3 (3)
5. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Hungarian GP No.3 (4)
6. Aleksandar KOSTADINOV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (6)
7. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (7)
8. Maikel ANACHE LAMOTH (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (20)
9. Victor CIOBANU (MDA) – European U23s No.1 (10)
10. Spenser MANGO (USA) – Pan America No.2 (12)
11. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – Granma Cup No.3 (11)
12. Kohei HASEGAWA (JPN) – Asian Games No.1 (8)
13. YUN Won-Chol (PRK) – Asian Games No.2 (9)
14. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – Hungarian GP No.3 (13)
15. Elman MUKHTAROV (AZE) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (not ranked)
16. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (nr)
17. Fatih UCUNCU (TUR) – Nikola Petrov No.3 (nr)
18. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) – Takhti Cup No.1 (14)
19. Virgil MUNTEANU (ROU) – Nikola Petrov No.3 (nr)
20. Tarik BELMADANI (FRA) – Paris GP No.1 (15)

66kg – Abdusalmet UGURLU (TUR), last seen at the 2013 World University Games, returned to international competition in April with a triumph at the Vehbi Emre in Istanbul and a bronze medal at Nikola Petrov in Sofia to debut in the rankings at No.9.

1. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – World No.1 (1)
2. Omid NOROOZI (IRI) – World No.2 (2)
3. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – World No.3 (3)
4. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – Asia Games No.1 (4)
5. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – World No.5 (7)
6. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – Hungarian GP No.3 (12)
7. Dominik ETLINGER (CRO) – Hungarian GP No.2 (15)
8. Revaz LASHKHI (GEO) – Hungarian GP No.3 (9)
9. Abdulsamet UGURLU (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
10. Konstantin STAS (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (nr)
11. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – European U23s No.1 (12)
12. Aibek YENSEKHANOV (KAZ) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (nr)
13. Edgaras VENCKAITIS (LTU) – World No.3 (10)
14. Ryutaro MATSUMOTO (JPN) – Asian Games No.2 (9)
15. Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) – Hungarian GP No.5 (13)
16. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (14)
17. Enes BASAR (TUR) – European U23s No.3 (nr)
18. Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) – Zagreb Open No.3 (16)
19. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (nr)
20. Mikhail SEMENOV (BLR) – Zagreb Open No.2 (nr)

71kg – Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO) won a bronze medal at the European under-23s at the end of March and followed up with another bronze medal at Vehbi Emre two weeks later to join the rankings at No.11.

In the Vehbi Emre final, European champion Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), third-ranked at 66kg, edged world silver medalist Yunus OZEL (TUR), 5-4, for his first tourney title since the Golden Grand Prix Final in Baku last July.

1. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – World Cup No.1 (1)
2. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – World No.1 (2)
3. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – World No.3 (3)
4. Yunus OZEL (TUR) – World No.2 (4)
5. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (7)
6. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Takhti Cup No.1 (8)
7. Yuri DENISOV (RUS) – Herman Kare No.1 (9)
8. JUNG Ji-Hyun (KOR) – Asian Games No.1 (5)
9. Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – Asia Games No.3 (6)
10. Mathias MAASCH (GER) – World Cup No.2 (10)
11. Sachino DAVITAIA (GEO) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (nr)
12. Rafael ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (nr)
13. Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (nr)
14. Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) – European U23s No.1 (15)
15. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – Zagreb Open No.1 (16)
16. Varsham BORANYAN (ARM) – World No.5 (12)
17. Aleksander DZEMYANOVICH (BLR) – World No.5 (11)
18. Dilshod TURDIEV (UZB) – Asian Games No.2 (13)
19. Shermet PERMANOV (TKM) – Asian Games No.3 (10)
20. Zackarias TALLROTH (SWE) – Paris GP No.1 (17)

75kg – Emrah KUS (TUR) defended his Vehbi Emre crown in Istanbul for only his second international win since taking a bronze medal at the 2013 world championships. Kus joins the rankings at No. 9 with a 1-1 criteria win over three-time former world silver medalist Mark MADSEN (DEN).

1. KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) - Asia Games No.1 (1)
2. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – World No.1 (2)
3. Neven ZUGAJ (CRO) – World No.2 (3)
4. Roman VLASOV (RUS) – World Cup No.2 (4)
5. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – World No.3 (5)
6. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – Hungarian GP No.1 (6)
7. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – European U23 No.3 (8)
8. Payam BOUYERI PAYANI (IRI) – Hungarian GP No.3 (7)
9. Emrah KUS (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
10. Mark MADSEN (DEN) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (nr)
11. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (9)
12. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.2 (14)
13. Yavor YANAKIEV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.3 (nr)
14. Andrew BISEK (USA) – World No.3 (10)
15. Kazbek KILOV (BLR) – European U23 No.2 (15)
16. Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (11)
17. Aleksander CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) – Europe No.1 (12)
18. Dmitri PYSHKOV (UKR) – Takhti Cup No.1 (16)
19. Takehiro KANAKUBO (JPN) – Asian Games No.2 (13)
20. Ilian GEORGIEV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (nr)

80kg – Asian Games gold medalist Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) climbed to No.5 with a win at 85kg in Sofia, while Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) capped his best-ever month in wrestling with a silver medal at Vehbi Emre and the 80kg title at Nikola Petrov to break into the rankings at No.14.
 
1. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – World Cup No.1 (1)
2. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – World No.2 (2)
3. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (3)
4. Selcuk CEBI (TUR) – World No.3 (4)
5. Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (9)
6. Jim PETTERSSON (SWE) – World No.3 (5)
7. Aleksandr KAZAKEVIC (LTU) – Paris GP No.1 (6)
8. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) – Paris GP No.3 (7)
9. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Zagreb Open No.1 (8)
10. Joe Rau (USA) – Pan America No.1 (12)
11. Giorgi TSIREKIDZE (GEO) – Hungarian GP No.2 (13)
12. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (11)
13. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – Zagreb Open No.2 (10)
14. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (nr)
15. Arslan ATEM (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
16. Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (16))
17. Sargis KOCHARYAN (ARM) – European U23 No.2 (17)
18. Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (nr)
19. Tarek ABDELSALAM (EGY) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (nr)
20. Aleksander SHYSHMAN (UKR) – World Military No.2 (15)

85kg – University world champion Metehan BASAR (TUR) collected the second gold medal of his international career with a 2-2 triumph on criteria over two-time world bronze medal winner Viktor LORINCZ (HUN).

Basar closed out the month of April with his third bronze medal from the Nikola Petrov tourney to claim No.12 in the rankings.
 
1. Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) – World No.1 (1)
2. Hassan Saman TAHMASEBI (AZE) – World No.2 (2)
3. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – Takhti Cup No.1 (3)
4. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (4)
5. Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) – Zagreb Open No.1 (5)
6. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – European U23 No.3 (6)
7. Damian JANIKOWSKI (POL) – Paris GP No.2 (7)
8. Denis KUDLA (GER) – European U23 No.1 (8)
9. Davod ABEDINADEH (IRI) – Takhti Cup No.2 (9)
10. Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – World Military No.3 (10)
11. Jordan HOLM (USA) – Hungarian GP No.1 (12)
12. Metehan BASAR (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (nr)
13. Gilberto PIQUET HERRERA (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (17)
14. Kristoffer JOHANSSON (SWE) – Hungarian GP No.2 (13)
15. Kansu ILDEM (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (nr)
16. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) – Asian Games No.1 (16)
17. Vladimir STANKIC (SRB) – European U23 No.2 (16)
18. Pablo SHOREY HERNANDEZ (CUB) – Granma Cup No.2 (18)
19. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Takhti Cup No.3 (19)
20. Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) – Hungarian GP No.5 (20) 

98kg – Daigoro TIMONCINI (ITA) edged Takhti Cup winner Seyedmostafa SALEHIZDEH on criteria in the Nikola Petrov semifinals to grab his second silver medal of 2015 and a No.10 in the rankings. Salehizadeh came back for a bronze medal to join the rankings at No.11.

1. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – World No.1 (1)
2. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (3)
3. Oliver HASSLER (GER) – World No.2 (2)
4. Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (5)
5. Ghasem REZAEI (IRI) – World No.3 (4)
6. Ardo ARUSAAR (EST) – Paris GP No.1 (6)
7. Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) – World Cup No.1 (7)
8. Balasz KISS (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (8)
9. Alin ALEX-CIURARIU (ROU) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (9)
10. Daigoro TIMONCINI (ITA) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (15)
11. Seyedmostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) – Takhti Cup No.1 (nr)
12. Yerulan ISKAKOV (KAZ) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (10)
13. XIAO Di (CHN) – Takhti Cup No.3 (11)
14. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – World Cup No.2 (13)
15. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) – Granma Cup No.1 (15)
16. Fatih BASKOY (TUR) – European U23 No.1 (16)
17. Tuomas LAHTI (FIN) – European U23 No.2 (17)
18. Vladislav METODIEV (BUL) – Schultz Memorial No.3 (18)
19. Timofej DEYNICHENKO (BLR) – Hungarian GP No.3 (nr)
20. Davi Jose ALBINO (BRA) – Pan America No.2 (nr)

130kg – Asia champion Behnam MEHDIZADEH (IRI) edged Hungarian Grand Prix bronze medalist Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR) for a bronze medal at the Vehbi Emre tourney and promotion to No.9 in the rankings ahead of teammate and Takhti Cup winner Bashir Asgiri BABAJANZADEH (IRI).
 
1. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) – World No.1 (1)
2. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (2)
3. Heiki NABI (EST) – World No.3 (3)
4. Johan Magnus EUREN (SWE) – World Cup No.2 (4)
5. Nurmakhan TINALIEV (KAZ) – Schultz Memorial No.1 (5)
6. Beylal MAKHOV (RUS) – World No.3 (6)
7. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) – European U23s No.1 (7)
8. Behnam MEHDIZADEH (IRI) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (12)
9. Bashir Asgiri BABAJANZADEH – Takhti Cup No.1 (10)
10. Miloslav METODIEV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.3 (nr)
11. Ali Nail ARSLAN (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (nr)
12. MENG Qiang (CHN) – Takhti Cup No.3 (11)
13. Lyubomir DIMITROV (BUL) – World No.5 (7)
14. Eduard POPP (GER) – World No.5 (8)
15. Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR) – Hungarian GP No.3 (17)
16. Balint LAM (HUN) – Hungarian GP No.2 (13)
17. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) – European U23 No.3 (18)
18. Iosif CHUGOSHVILI (BLR) – Zagreb Open No.1 (18)
19. Robert SMITH (USA) – Pan America No.1 (nr)
20. Ramon Antonio GARCIA (DOM) – Pan America No.2 (nr)