#BeachWrestling

African Beach Wrestling Championships 2024: All you need to know

By Vinay Siwach

DAKAR, Senegal (June 21) -- The second edition of the African Beach Wrestling Championships will be held in Dakar, Senegal. The tournament, to be played on June 22 and 23 at the Arène Nationale de Lutte, will see 103 wrestlers competing in four weight classes each in men's and women's categories.

The first African Championships in Beach Wrestling was held in Hammamet, which also hosted the African Beach Games, last year.

The two-day tournament will streamed live on the United World Wrestling Beach Wrestling Series YouTube channel. All the action can be accessed here. On Saturday, the group bouts in all weight classes will begin at 10:00 hours local time till 13:00 hours. After a two-hour break, the competition will resume with more group-stage bouts at 15:00 hours.

On Sunday, the morning session will see the remaining group-stage bouts in all weight classes in both categories beginning at 10:00 hours. The evening session will begin at 15:00 hours with all the elimination and medal bouts. A closing ceremony is scheduled at 19:30 hours.

For regular updates, log on to uww.org or the UWW App and follow United World Wrestling channels on Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Here are the wrestlers competing in the weight classes in Dakar on Saturday and Sunday.

Siny SEMBENE (SEN)Siny SEMBENE (SEN) will look to defend his 90kg title in Dakar. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

Men's Beach Wrestling

70kg
Chamseddine ABDEMEZIEM (ALG)
Reginaldo da SILVA (ANG)
Yves NISHIMWE (BDI)
Baki ISSIAKO (BEN)
Herve KI (BUR)
Guy LAGO (CIV)
Gibriel CHOW (GAM)
Wotna NDOC (GBS)
Rafael NZE OYANA (GEQ)
Thierno DIALLO (GUI)
Kenneth KOECH (KEN)
Faly RANDRIANANTOANDRO (MAD)
Gilbert EMILIE (MRI)
Djamilou BAKOYE BAJINI (NIG)
Adama THIOR (SEN)
Nkosinathi MAKHANYA (SWZ)
Rodgers MUKYEDA (UGA)
Kangwa DAKA (ZAM)

80kg
Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
Kieto PACHECO (ANG)
Firmin TOSSE (BEN)
Jeffias KULUBE (BOT)
Koni DIALLO (BUR)
Nelson OBROU (CAF)
Dongui AHAMED ABASSE (CAF)
Michel DOLE BONDELE (CGO)
Samluel FALINA DOGOM (CHA)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
Modou JOBE (GAM)
Caetano SA (GBS)
Mathayo MAHABILA (KEN)
Mohammed BOUAZOUNI (MAR)
Jesse VAN BAALEN (RSA)
Mbaye DIOP (SEN)
Ya NDONG (SEN)
Foday KARGBO (SLE)
Ibrahim AHMED (SUD)
Joseph KAKIZIBA (TAN)
Khairiddine BEN TLILI (TUN)

90kg
Ayelodjou TCHEDE (BEN)
Karim BAZONGO (BUR)
Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR)
Matteo MONTEIRO FURTADO TRESSE (CPV)
Ahmed MAHMOUD (EGY)
Adama SARR (GAM)
Emmanuel OSEI SARFO (GHA)
Mohamed CAMARA (GUI)
Mark ONGUYESI (KEN)
Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR)
Siny SEMBENE (SEN)

+90kg
Amine BENDJELLOUL (ALG)
Islam INOUSSA (BEN)
Alain GUERET (CAF)
Borcel BOUKAKA (CGO)
Babacarr MBOGE (GAM)
Issah FUSEINI (GHA)
Dan CHEPTAI (KEN)
Pieter UYS (NAM)
Mouhamed BAYO (SEN)
Alaza SAYIBIA (TOG)

Amy YOUIN (CIV)Amy YOUIN (CIV) is entered at +70kg for the African Beach Wrestling Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

Women's Beach Wrestling

50kg
Cheima CHEBILA (ALG)
Gouleli BATIO (BUR)
Nde YAPI (CIV)
Rose KOMBE (CMR)
Debora TURE (GBS)
Emma WANGILA (KEN)
Nahamie SAMBOU (SEN)

60kg
Lassaleth ANTONIO (ANG)
Julienne UWIMANA (BDI)
Sofiath ADJAI (BEN)
Wendgounda NABI (BUR)
Nogona BAKAYOKO (CIV)
Farah HUSSEIN (EGY)
Rohey CHAM (GAM)
Alberta TETTEH (GHA)
Emily WANYAMA (KEN)
Solo MIORANIRINA (MAD)
Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR)
Vihanshy KANAPETRADU (MRI)
Ester ABRAHAM (NAM)
Hanna IDI ADAM (NIG)
Mama SAMBOU (SEN)
Siphesihle DLAMINI (SWZ)
Harriet AKITE (UGA)

70kg
Kawiyatou ISSIFOU (BEN)
Kelebogile BASUPI (BOT)
Riyanata DIALLO (BUR)
Lec Hej ANDE (CAF)
Clavina ITSAMBO NGALA (CGO)
Aminata IMBALI (GBS)
Freedom MBIYA NGUEMA (GEQ)
Safietou GOUDIABY (SEN)
Vumilia KALINGA (TAN)
Bimamdeou AGNAN (TOG)
Nour JELJELI (TUN)
Abigail MULENGA (ZAM)

+70kg
Salmantou COULIBALY (BUR)
Godah GASSIDA (CHA)
Amy YOUIN (CIV)
Ebi BIOGOS (NGR)
Lillian MBENA (RSA)
Anta SAMBOU (SEN)
Augusta DEIGH (SLE)
Patricia ELNOUR (SUD)

#WrestleTirana

Aitmukhan wins U23 Worlds gold; Iran best team

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 26) -- After becoming Kazakhstan's first world champion in Freestyle, Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) is on a mission to collect age-group world titles. Two months after winning the U20 World Championships gold medal, Aitmukhan won the 97kg gold medal at the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania. The gold medal ensured Aitmukhan's record of finishing on the podium of all tournaments he has participated in since 2023.

Aitmukhan wrestled Mahdi HAJI (IRI) in the final and led 2-2 at the break but Haji struggled with conditioning in the second. He fell behind 10-4 at one point and there was no coming back against Aitmukhan.

Iran, however, won the Freestyle team title as it got 158 points. Japan had an incredible run and finished with 102 points for second position and Azerbaijan was third with 100 points.

Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) claimed the 79kg gold medal for Iran after he defeated Paris Olympian Feng LU (CHN), who became the first wrestler from China to reach the final in Freestyle.

Ibragimov repeats

Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN) claimed his second straight world title at the U23 World Championships as he took only 53 seconds to beat Kaiji OGINO (JPN) 14-2.

A takedown opened the scoring for Ibragimov and he added four turns to make it 8-0. However, Ogino managed to wrap his arm around Ibragimov and tossed him for two points. Ibragimov never left control of Ogino and transitioned to a leg lace to finish the match 13-2.

Ogino challenged for the sequence but it was scored correctly on the challenge. The lost challenge of Japan made it 14-2 for Ibragimov.

The 57kg gold medal was captured by 19-year-old CHIRAG (IND) as he defeated Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ) 4-3 in the final.

Chirag was called passive in the second period but scored with a beautiful duckunder during the activity. But Karachov scored a stepout with a minute remaining in the match to take a 3-2 lead.

Chirag continued to work for a takedown for the win, got a leg attack, and scored two points. His 4-3 lead was good enough till the end of six minutes to win India's second-ever gold medal in Freestyle at the U23 World Championships.

 At 70kg, Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) held on to a 5-4 lead against Magomed ELTEMIROV (AIN) and win the gold medal.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: CHIRAG (IND) df. Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ), 4-3

BRONZE: Ali Hossein MOMENI (IRI) df. Maxwell GALLAGHER (USA), 8-0
BRONZE: Iunus IAVBATIROV (AIN) df. Allan ORALBEK (KAZ), 6-2

65kg
GOLD: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN) df. Kaiji OGINO (JPN), 14-2

BRONZE: Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB) df. Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ), 4-1
BRONZE: Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) df. Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR), 15-4

70kg
GOLD: Magomed KHANIEV (AZE) df. Magomed ELTEMIROV (AIN), 5-4

BRONZE: Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) df. Ali Mahmoud KHORRAMDEL (IRI), 10-0
BRONZE: SUJEET (IND) df. Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK), 13-4 

79kg
GOLD: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. Feng LU (CHN), 12-5

BRONZE: Arsen BALAIAN (AIN) df. Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM), 9-1
BRONZE: Masaki SATO (JPN) df. Owen MARTIN (CAN), 11-0

97kg
GOLD: Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) df. Mahdi HAJI (IRI), 11-6

BRONZE: Uladzislau KAZLOU (AIN) df. Shamil GADZHIALIEV (AIN), 2-2
BRONZE: VICKY (IND) df. Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR), 7-2