#WrestleElJadida

African Championships preview: Oborududu chases record 11th title

Friday, May 13, 2022 - 16:57 By Vinay Siwach

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EL JADIDA, Morocco (May 13) -- Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) has spent around nine months off competition. A heartbreaking loss in Tokyo meant that she missed out on a medal at her second straight Games. But with African Championships and Commonwealth Games scheduled within three months, the World silver medalist is back for the continental tournament beginning next week in El Jadida.

As she is coming back after a break, the five-time African champion is jumping up to 59kg for the tournament. While she has nothing to prove at the competition, it will be a warm-up before she goes for her title defense at the Commonwealth Games in August.

Along with Adekuoroye, Nigeria will pin hopes on Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) to guide the country to defend their team title. The Tokyo Olympic silver medalist will be looking for her 11th straight African title.

Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR)Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) will be eyeing her sixth African title. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Oborududu, unlike her younger compatriot Adekuoroye, wrestled at the World Championships in Oslo after the Olympics but lost early. But she began the 2022 season with a gold medal at the Ranking Series in Istanbul in February.

That victory included a win over world champion Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ) in the final. Oborududu had defeated her in the quarterfinal of the Tokyo Games as well.

Nigeria has entered nine wrestlers out of ten weight classes as it has missed the 62kg. It may prove tricky as its biggest challenger Tunisia has entries in all 10 weight categories.

It will be a close battle between the two nations for the title as Tokyo Olympians Sarra HAMDI (TUN), Siwar BOUSETA (TUN), Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) and Rio bronze medalist Marwa AMRI (TUN) are leading the charge for their country. Also in the mix is young star Khadija JLASSI (TUN) at 65kg.

Adekouroye and Bouseta will clash head-on at 59kg and that may prove to be crucial in deciding which country finishes at the top.

Samar HAMZA (EGY)Samar HAMZA (EGY) will be the favorite to win the 76kg weight class. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Usually, at continental championships, freestyle and Greco-Roman styles highlight the competition but that is not the case for African Championships.

Apart from Nigeria and Tunisia, Egypt will also be banking on making a good run at the tournament.

Its first-ever world medalist and defending champion Samar HAMZA (EGY) will be competing at 76kg and at her fifth continental championships. Ever since she began competing at the senior level in 2016, she is yet to lose a bout.

So when wrestling begins Saturday, all eyes will be on these stars who are chasing continental glory before the World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia in September.

Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) will be making his senior African Championships debut. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In freestyle and Greco-Roman, a few names stand out that fans need to follow.

Algeria is the favorite to defend their freestyle team title from 2020 and two-time African champion Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) is jumping up to 61kg and will be looking for his third title and first at the new weight.

At 57kg, Tokyo Olympian Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) will be eyeing his first African title after missing out on one in 2020 when he finished with a silver medal. His biggest challenge will be Salah KATEB (ALG) who is competing at the senior African Championships for the first time. He won the junior title in 2017.

Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) at 86kg will be a star attraction as the youngster chases his first gold at the tournament after missing out in 2020. The experience at the Tokyo Olympics will also be beneficial for him to negotiate the challenge of his opponents.

Junior world bronze medalist Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) will be the favorite to win the 97kg weight class but Abderrahmane BENACHA (ALG) will be a big name to overcome.

U23 world silver medalist from 2018 Youssif HEMIDA (EGY), who trains in the USA, will be the favorite to win the three-man 125kg bracket.

With Tokyo bronze medalist Mohamed EL SAYED (EGY) giving the tournament a miss, Egypt wrestler will have a challenging road if it wants to win the team title. The race may come down to Algeria and Tunisia as these two nations are the only ones with 10 wrestlers entered.

The U17 and U20 African Championships will also be held in El Jadida. The U17 tournament begins Tuesday, U20 begins Thursday and the senior will begin Saturday with women's and Greco-Roman. Freestyle will close out the tournament on Sunday.

Live action and highlights from all the three competitions will be on uww.org.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Ranking Series day four finals set

Saturday, February 4, 2023 - 09:08 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 4) -- The Zagreb Open Ranking Series enters its fourth day with four women's wrestling and two Greco-Roman weight classes. A huge crop of talent is competing at 67kg including Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB) who won the gold at 60kg in Tokyo.

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15:00: Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) is so good. Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI) tried every trick he had but failed to break Mammadov's defense. The Azerbaijan wrestlers wins 4-4 and reaches the 63kg final.

14:35: Yelena MAKOYED (USA) is quickly becoming a threat at 76kg. She beats Dymond GUILFORD (USA) 12-2 to reach the final. If she can win domestically, she will have a chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics. But Adeline GRAY (USA) is standing on that path.

14:20: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) with a fall over Juan WANG (CHN). She moves into the 76kg final and will face the winner of Yelena MAKOYED (USA) vs. Dymond GUILFORD (USA).

14:00: HUSIYUETU (CHN) with the upset of the tournament as he wins 13-4 over Luis ORTA (CUB). Perhaps Orta was pushed to the limits by Jafarov and Sohrabi in the previous. But here he was helpless. Husiyuetu got the par terre advantage and trapped one of Orta's arms and scored via exposure. Nothing much Orta could do there. This also means that a Jafarov vs Sohrabi rematch won't take place.

13:40: Helen MAROULIS (USA) up against Patrycja GIL (POL) at 57kg. Gil with a takedown and tries to pin but Maroulis with excellent defense. Gil leads 4-0. Maroulis scores stepout to cut the lead to 4-3. A takedown just before the break for Gil. She begins the second period with a counter takedown and it's 8-3 for Gil who is struggling to keep up. Maroulis takedown on the edge to make it 8-5 with around a minute remaining. Gil with another spin behind and it's 10-5 for her. Maroulis will take a 10-5 loss at 57kg.

13:15: The quarterfinals at GR 63kg

Samuel JONES (USA) vs. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) vs. Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB) vs. Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
SAGAR (IND) vs. Aref Hossein Khoun MOHAMMADI (IRI) 

12:50: Luis ORTA (CUB) is on a roll here. After beating Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), he now takes out Daniel SOHRABI (IRI). Sohrabi got a stepout and passivity point in the first period but Orta managed to escape. As the pressure built, Sohrabi tried pushing Orta out but a head pinch from Orta resulted in four points. Sohrabi was penalized for keeping his head low. Orta on 6-2.

12:30: Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ) with a resounding win over KIRAN (IND) at 76kg. She got the cradle to fall to move into the quarterfinals.

12:10: Sae NANJO (JPN) with a technical superiority win over  Alexandria TOWN (CAN). She is on course to wrestle Maroulis in what can prove to be a blockbuster.

12:05: Helen MAROULIS (USA) was checked by Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB) as the latter scored the first takedown on her but she quickly fizzled out. Maroulis quickly turned up and won her opening bout at 57kg 11-2.

11:45: Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) with those perfect low singles against Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU). Despite all the tricks in her bag, Yepez has no idea how to deal with the phenom named Fujinami, who rolls to another technical superiority win at 53kg

11:36: Daniel SHORABI (IRI) is an absolute master at his craft. The young star gets Sylla into positions of no return. Shorabi scores three takedowns in his 10-2 win over Sylla.

11:35: Luis ORTA (CUB) hands Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) a 5-1 loss. He scores from par terre and two stepouts while Jafarov, despite getting the passivity point, fails to break Orta's defense.

11:20: Two big Greco-Roman bouts on adjacent mats. Luis ORTA (CUB) is wrestling Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE). Danial SOHRABI (IRI) is up against Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA). Both bouts are at 67kg. 

11:15: That has to be the calmest performance ever! Sumire NIIKURA (JPN) was trailing REETIKA (IND) 4-0 with 10 seconds remaining. With no signs of panic, Niikura used a head-pinched Reetika twice to win 4-4. So clutch.

10:55: Ningning RONG (CHN), competing for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics, could not get going in that bout against Patrycja GIL (POL). Shabby defense from Rong each time they got into scrambles and Gil built a 5-0 lead. Rong switched gears one in the final minute, scoring two takedowns but that was too little too late. 

10:40: A fall for Sam STEWART (CAN) over world champion Dominique PARRISH (USA) at 53kg. Parrish was going for the single leg and seems like her knee hit the mat before she could finish the move and lost her balance. Stewart kept Parrish on the back for the fall.

10:30: Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) looks like she was never off the mat. A dominant 10-0 win over Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL) at 53kg. Fujinami last competed internationally at the Asian Championships and has been struggling with a few injuries.

10:15: Tokyo Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB) makes his debut at 67kg and begins with a win! A combination of big throws and pushouts gives him a 9-1 victory over Karanjit SINGH (IND).

10:00: Welcome to a very windy day here in Zagreb! The wrestlers are ready for another long day of wrestling. The return of Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) to international competition since the Asian Championships in April last year is the biggest story of the day.