#WrestleAlger

Adekuoroye Climbs to World No. 1 After Winning Sixth African Title

By Eric Olanowski

ALGER, Algeria (February 7) --- Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) and Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) improved on their top-three world rankings, as Nigerian women nabbed six African gold medals on Saturday night. 

Adekuoroye won her sixth consecutive African championship crown and overthrew Risako KAWAI (JPN) for the world’s top-ranking at 57kg. Kawai will have an opportunity to regain the top spot later this month at the Asian Championships.

Adekuoroye started the year ranked third in the world at 57kg. She jumped then-second-ranked RONG Ningning (CHN) in last month’s rankings with a gold-medal finish at the Matteo Pellicone. She brought 43 points and a second ranking to Algeria and used her 18-point gold medal to move one-point ahead of Kawai, the reigning three-time world champion and 2016 Olympic champion. (Kawai will compete in the Asian Championships with an opportunity to regain her top rankings).

Adekuoroye went 4-0 on Saturday and outscored her opponents 31-0. She picked up her most notable wins against No. 12 (@ 59kg) Eman EBRAHIM (EGY). She pinned Ebrahim in the opening round and defeated her 10-0 in the Nordic bracket finals.

Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) passed Jenny FRANSSON (SWE) for the No. 2 ranking at 68kg after winning African gold on Saturday night. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Fellow Nigerian Blessing Oborududu won gold on Saturday and moved ahead of Jenny FRANSSON (SWE) in the 68kg world rankings.

Oborududu brought her African gold-medal tally to ten and surpassed Fransson for the No. 2 spot in the 68kg women’s wrestling rankings. Oborududu’s title on Saturday was worth 18 points, moving her eight points ahead of the Swedish wrestler, who won’t compete at next week’s European Championships.

Oborududu tallied four blowout wins on Saturday. She ended each match early, scoring four technical superiority victories while outscoring her opponents 40-0.

Nigeria overpowered the women’s wrestling portion of the competition and won the team title with their ten finalists and six champions. Nigeria finished with 230 points, which was 64 points ahead of second-place Tunisia (166 points), and 66 points ahead of third-place Egypt (164 points). 

Nigeria’s Women’s Wrestling Champions: 
50kg - Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) 
55kg - Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) 
57kg - Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
59kg - Bisola MAKANJUOLA (NGR)
65kg - Hannah Amuchechi RUEBEN (NGR)
68kg - Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)

Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) is ranked third in the world at 67kg after his gold-medal performance in Algeria. (Photo: United World Wretling)

Greco-Roman 

El Sayed and Mohamed Improve Top-Five Rankings with African Golds 
Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) and Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) improved on their top-five rankings with African golds and head into the final Ranking Series event eyeing a top-four seed at the Olympic Games. 

El Sayed won the 67kg gold medal and earned 18 Ranking Series points, moving into the third spot of the rankings before the European Championships kick-off. He has 33 points and trails top-ranked Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) by nine points.

El Sayed, who qualified Egypt for the Olympic Games with a fifth-place finish in Nur-Sultan, entered the African Championships ranked fifth in the world at 67kg and was five points from leaping into the top-three of the rankings. His summit to the top of the African podium for the fourth time in his last five tries pushed him into the top-three of the rankings with one Ranking Series event left before the Olympic Games. 

The two-time U23 world champion won all four of his matches on Saturday. He outscored his opponents 27-0 en route to the 67kg gold medal. 

Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) snuck past Oscar PINO HINDES (CUB) for the No. 2 spot at 130kg with his African title-winning effort on Saturday.  (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Abdellatif Mohamed was the second Egyptian who improved his top-five ranking with a gold-medal performance in Algeria. 

Mohamed, who still needs to qualify Egypt for the Olympic Games at 130kg, entered the African Championships ranked third in the world with 30 Ranking Series points. He climbed to the second-ranking and gained a ten-point lead over Cuba's Oscar PINO HINDES (CUB). 

Mohamed collected three wins on his road to gold on Saturday. He demolished his trio of opponents, scoring a fall and two technical superiority victories.

Host Nation Algeria Claims Six Golds 
The host nation, Algeria, claimed six Greco-Roman gold medals at the African Championships and won the team title with 220 points. They finished 15 points ahead of second-place Egypt (205 points), and 73 points ahead of third-place Tunisia (147 points). 

Algeria’s Greco-Roman Champions:
55kg - Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
63kg - Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
77kg - Abd OUAKALI (ALG)
82kg - Chawki DOULACHE (ALG) 
87kg - Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
97kg - Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG)

RESULTS 

Women’s Wrestling

50kg 
GOLD - Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) df. Nada MOHAMED (EGY), via fall 
BRONZE - Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Debora Valeria TURE (GBS), via fall 
BRONZE - Sarra HAMDI (TUN) df. Fatiha SAHMANI (MAR), 10-0 

53kg 
GOLD - Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) df. Bose SAMUEL (NGR), 4-1
BRONZE - Kholod AHMED (EGY) df. Kheira YAHIAOUI (ALG), via injury default

55kg
GOLD - Esther Omolayo KOLAWOLE (NGR)
SILVER - Dorssaf GHARSSI (TUN)
BRONZE - Faten AHMED (EGY)

57kg 
GOLD - Odunayo Folasade ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Eman Essam Guda EBRAHIM (EGY), 10-0 
BRONZE - Siwar BOUSETTA (TUN) df. Cheima CHEBILA (ALG), 11-4

59kg
GOLD - Bisola MAKANJUOLA (NGR) 
SILVER - Fatma Ramadan Gomaa Ahmed ELKELINY (EGY) 
BRONZE - Khouloud EL OUNI (TUN)

62kg
GOLD - Marwa AMRI (TUN) df. Aminat Oluwafunmilayo ADENIYI (NGR), via fall
BRONZE - Berthe Emilienne ETANE NGOLLE (CMR) df. Wissal EL GNAOUI (MAR), via fall

65kg 
GOLD - Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) 
SILVER - Amel HAMMICHE (ALG) 
BRONZE - Lilia MEJRI (TUN)

68kg 
GOLD - Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) 
SILVER - Anta SAMBOU (SEN) 
BRONZE - Rihem AYARI (TUN) 

72kg
GOLD - Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN)
SILVER - Sunmisola Idowu BALOGUN (NGR) 
BRONZE - Sunmisola Idowu BALOGUN (EGY) 

76kg
GOLD - Samar HAMZA (EGY) df. Blessing Joy ONYEBUCHI (NGR), via fall 
BRONZE - Yvette ZIE (BUR) vs. Nour JELJELI (TUN), via fall 

Greco-Roman

55kg
GOLD - Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) 
SILVER -  Romio Ricardo GOLIATH (NAM)
BRONZE - Youssef Mohamed Harbi THABET (EGY) 

60kg
GOLD - Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY)
SILVER - Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG)
BRONZE - Abderrazak ROUINBI (MAR)

63kg 
GOLD - Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG) 
SILVER - Mostafa MOHAMED (EGY) 
BRONZE - Hamed Moustapha TCHOUFON (RSA) 

67kg
GOLD - Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) 
SILVER - Ishak GHAIOU (ALG)
BRONZE - Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN)

72kg 
GOLD - Lamjed MAAFI (TUN) 
SILVER - Abouhalima Mohamed Elsaid ABOUHALIMA (EGY) 
BRONZE - Tarek Aziz BENAISSA (ALG) 

77kg 
GOLD - Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG) df. Wael Hamdy Mohamed ABDELRAHMAN (EGY), 11-5 
BRONZE - Mohamed Aziz LANDOLSI (TUN) df. 2-1 Aziz BOUALEM (MAR), 2-1 

82kg 
GOLD - Chawki DOULACHE (ALG) 
SILVER - Ghaith HANNACHI (TUN)
BRONZE - Mohamed SELIM (EGY) 

87kg 
GOLD - Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) df. Mohamed Moustafa Ahmed Abdall METWALLY (EGY), 9-0
BRONZE - Mohamed FAIQ (MAR) df. Mohamed Skander MISSAOUI (TUN), via fall

97kg
GOLD - Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) df. Haikel ACHOURI (TUN), 9-0 
BRONZE - Noureldin HASSAN (EGY) df. Choucri ATAFI (MAR), via injury default 

130kg
GOLD - Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) 
SILVER - Amine GUENNICHI (TUN)
BRONZE - Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG)

#WrestleParis

Wrestling at Paris 2024: Tazhudinov wins gold; Kiyooka, Kagami continue Japan's dominance

By Vinay Siwach

PARIS (August 11) -- The final day of wrestling at Paris 2024. Repechages round and then the medal bouts of Freestyle 65kg and 97kg and women's wrestling 76kg.

LIVE MATCH ORDER | PARIS 2024 DAY 6

14:00: Yuka KAGAMI (JPN) is an Olympic champion! The world champion beats Kennedy BLADES (USA) 3-1 in the 76kg weight class and clinches the top medal for Japan. It's first-ever for Japan in the heavyweight.

13:45: Tatiana RENTERIA (COL) hangs on! She takes the bronze medal with a 2-1 win over Genesis REASCO (ECU). Colombia's third medal in women's wrestling at the Olympics.

13:30: Cuba won its second women's wrestling medal at this Olympics! Milaimy MARIN (CUB) stuns world silver medalist Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) 6-0. That is the second Olympic loss for Medet Kyzy in bronze-medal bouts at the Games.

13:10: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) is an Olympic champion! The world champion pins Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) in a minute and 52 seconds to win the gold at 97kg. First-ever Olympic champion for Bahrain in wrestling.

12:55: Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE) claims the bronze medal at 97kg after he shuts down Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR). He wins the bout 10-0. The second bronze goes to Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) who gets three stepouts in his 4-1 win over Kyle SNYDER (USA). This is the first time Snyder has not won a medal at a World Championships or Olympics since 2015.

12:30: Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN) is an Olympic champion! What a win for the young star. After beating Tokyo Olympic champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) in the domestic playoff, Kiyooka beats Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) 10-3 in the 65kg final to keep the gold medal with Japan. Amouzad with the first point but Kiyooka goes lace after takedown and makes it 10-1 at the break. A takedown in the second period but Amouzad has nothing left in him to attack. Kiyooka wins gold.

12:15: Islam DUDAEV (ALB) with a buzzer-beating one point to beat world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) 13-12 for the bronze medal at 65kg. Muszukajev fell behind 12-8 but hit a front headlock four to lead 12-12 on criteria. However, Dudaev with a reversal and one point with 3 seconds left.

12:00: The first bronze medal of the day goes to Sebastian RIVERA (PUR)! He comes back in the final 10 seconds to beat Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) 9-8. Tumur Ochir gave up a takedown in the second period and Rivera turned him two times to lead 8-4. Tumur Ochir hit his filthy underhook to headlock four to lead 11-8 on criteria but Rivera with a takedown late. Initially, it is not scored but Rivera wins on challenge. 

11:42: Genesis REASCO (ECU) has given a chance to Ecuador to win two medals in wrestling in Paris. She hangs on to beat Tokyo bronze Yasemin ADAR (TUR) 3-1 in the 76kg repechage. She will take on Tatiana RENTERIA (COL).

11:30: Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) sets up a bronze medal bout against Kyle SNYDER (USA) after the Iranian beat Alisher YERGALI (KAZ) 10-0 in the repechage at 97kg

11:20: History was on line had Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) had pulled off one takedown against Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR). De Lange was down 2-2 on criteria but got a leg attack and tried exposing Mchedlidze. The Ukrainian somehow blocked De Lange and threw him off balance to take two points and win 5-3. He will wrestle for bronze

11:10: Maxim SACULTAN (MDA) opened a 4-0 lead over Sebastian RIVERA (PUR) in the 65kg repechage bout but Rivera in the second period puts on 14 points and wins 14-4. He will wrestle Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL) for the bronze

11:00: Welcome to the final day of wrestling at the Paris 2024 Olympics. After five repechage bouts, we move into the medal bouts. Zain RETHERFORD (USA) and Catalina AXENTE (ROU) are injured and there will be one fewer repechage bouts in 65kg and 76kg.