#WrestleHammamet

Algeria Claims Four Berths as Six Countries Qualify for Tokyo Olympics

By Vinay Siwach

HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 4) -- Six countries combined to secure the 12 Olympic berths in men's freestyle that were on the line on the final day of the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier on Sunday.

Algeria led the way by capturing four quotas while Egypt, Tunisia and Guinea-Bissau claimed two each. Senegal and Nigeria also registered their names by claiming a berth each for the Tokyo Olympics.

Four wrestlers who punched their tickets to Tokyo for Algeria were Abdelhak KHERBACHE (57kg), Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (86kg), Mohammed FARDJ (97kg) and Djahid BERRAHAL (125kg).

However, the Algerian quartet in the finals failed to win a gold medal on Sunday and had to be content with four silver medals. The result came back to hurt them as they let the team title slip from their hands.

Egypt edged host nation Tunisia for the freestyle team title despite both countries having 105 points. The former had two gold medal finishes compared to the one of Tunisia.

Amr HUSSEN (EGY) led his country's charge as he defeated three-time Olympian Augusto MIDANA (GBS), 10-0, in the 74kg final. Hussen had a dream run in Hammamet as he began his day with 16-11 exciting win over multiple-time African champion John Emmanuel OGBONNA (NGR) before securing the berth with technical superiority win over Elias Lauofo VAOIFI (ASA).

African and Oceania Olympic Qualifiers 2021

Another gold medal for Egypt was earned by Rio Olympian and African champion at 125kg Diaaeldin Kamal Gouda ABDELMOTTALEB in the Nordic style bracket. Using his experience to a great effect, the Egyptian pinned Thiacka FAYE (SEN), held off Abdelmoneim ADOULI (TUN), 5-4, then scored a over Johannes Jacobus KRIEL (RSA). The South African pulled out due to injury before claiming the gold medal with a 4-0 win over Djahid BERRAHAL (ALG) in the final which was a rematch of the last year's African Championships which was won by the Egyptian wrestler.

At 57kg, 19-year-old Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) stole the show as he claimed the gold medal in stunning fashion by pinning two-time African champion Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) in just 57 seconds. On his way to the final, IUNA FAFE handed defeats to African Championships silver medalist Gamal MOHAMED (EGY), three-time Commonwealth Games silver-medalist Ebikewenimo WELSON (NGR) and 2016 Rio Olympian Chakir ANSARI (MAR).

His senior teammate Augusto MIDANA (GBS), however, could not match the gold-medal finish. After securing the Olympic berth, the three-time Olympian surrendered 0-10 in the 74kg final against Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY).

Tunisia also had two finalists but managed to claim only one gold. Rio Olympian Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN) won the 97kg gold after Mohammed FARDJ (ALG) pulled out midway with an injury.

African and Oceania Olympic Qualifiers 2021

Another Tunisian in the final, Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN), missed out on the gold medal in a close 1-1 loss to veteran Adama DIATTA (SEN), who is now a three-time Olympian after claiming the lone spot for the country.

But Ekerekeme AGIOMOR (NGR) could not have scripted a better finish for himself. Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) surprised AGIOMOR with a five-point throw after starting with a single attack. Trailing 5-6 in the final 10 seconds of the bout, the Nigerian got an exposure over the Algerian to claim the gold medal at 86kg, thus managing to mount an inspiring comeback.

RESULTS:

Team standings

GOLD: Egypt (105 points)
SILVER Tunisia (105 points)
BRONZE: Algeria (98 points)
4TH: South Africa (62 points)
5thGuinea-Bissau (61 points)

57kg
GOLD: Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) df Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG), via fall
BRONZE: Kossai AJIMI (TUN) df Junjun ASEBIAS (FSM), 2-0
BRONZE: Chakir ANSARI (MAR) df Gamal Abdelnaser Hanafy MOHAMED (EGY), 16-14

65kg
GOLD: Adama DIATTA (SEN) df Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN), 1-1
BRONZE: Reynhardt LOUW (RSA) df Aime Mbolalalaina Joel RAKOTONIAINA (MAD), 11-0
BRONZE: Fathi Tarek Fathi Attia ISMAIL (EGY) df Mostafa REZAEIFAR (AUS), 10-4

74kg:
GOLD: Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY) df Augusto MIDANA (GBS), 10-0
BRONZE: Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN) df Ishak BOUKHORS (ALG), via fall
BRONZE: Ogbonna Emmanuel JOHN (NGR) df Elias Lauofo VAOIFI (ASA), 6-2

86kg:
GOLD: Ekerekeme AGIOMOR (NGR) df Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG), 7-6
BRONZE: Khaled Masoud Ismail ELMOATAMADAWI (EGY) df Bedopassa Buassat DJONDE (GBS), 7-0
BRONZE: Maher GHANMI (TUN) df Jayden Alexander LAWRENCE (AUS), 10-0

97kg:
GOLD: Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN) df Mohammed FARDJ (ALG), via VIN
BRONZE: Martin ERASMUS (RSA) df Soso TAMARAU (NGR), via fall
BRONZE: Hosam Mohamed Mostafa MERGHANY (EGY) df Thomas John Mcglinchey BARNS (AUS), 6-4

125kg
GOLD: Diaaeldin Kamal Gouda ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY)
SILVER: Djahid BERRAHAL (ALG)
BRONZE: Abdelmoneim ADOULI (TUN)
4th: Johannes Jacobus KRIEL (RSA)

#WrestleTirana

European Championships 2026 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (April 6) -- The European Championships will be held in Tirana, Albania from April 20 to 27 with more than 400 wrestlers.

Greco-Roman will kick off action at the European Championships on Monday followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle. For all the live action and highlights, subscribe to UWW+.

READ THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026 PREVIEW

Note: The entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draw of respective styles. Please refer to uww.org for latest entries.

Freestyle

57kg
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Ion BULGARU (MDA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Yusuf DEMIR (TUR)
Roman HUTSULIAK (UKR)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Bashir MAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)

70kg
Davit MARGARYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Benjamin BOEJTHE (ROU)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
David BAEV (UWW)
George KOLIEV (UWW)

74kg
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Omer CAYIR (TUR)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)
Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (UWW)
Farhad NOURIKHORJESTAN (UWW)
Timur BIZHOEV (UWW)

79kg
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)

86kg
Mate KOLA (ALB)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Denys BYKOV (UKR)
Ibragim KADIEV (UWW)

92kg
Albin PEPOSHI (ALB)
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Samhan JABRAILOV (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Igor SZUCKI (POL)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Theodoros KYRIAKIDIS (GRE)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Shaqir BISLIMI (KOS)
Redjep HAJDARI (MDA)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Rifat GIDAK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)

125kg
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Shamil MUSAEV (UWW)

Riza KAYAALP (TUR)Riza KAYAALP (TUR) will aim to win his 13th European gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Adalberto MINAZZI (ITA)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Omer RECEP (TUR)
Ivan STEFANSKYI (UKR)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)

60kg
Bajram SINA (ALB)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Borislav KIRILOV (BUL)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Jamal VALIZADEH (UWW)
Suner KONUNOV (UWW)

63kg
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Tino Tapio OJALA (FIN)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Miguel LOUREIRO (POR)
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Maksym LIU (UKR)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Erzu ZAKRIEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)

72kg
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Kamil CZARNECKI (POL)
Joao DUARTE SIMOES (POR)
Henrik DAHLEN (SWE)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Dmytro VASYLIEV (UKR)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Kamil AKHMETVALEEV (UWW)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Edvin BAFF (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Sergei STEPANOV (UWW)
Shuai MAMEDAU (UWW)

82kg
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)

87kg
Marjan KOLA (ALB)
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Dogan KAYA (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Alan OSTAEV (UWW)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Alex BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Abdul Kadir CEBI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)

130kg
Griseldi KODRA (ALB)
Albert VARDANYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Marat KAMPAROV (UWW)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)

Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) will return to defend her 76kg title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW)

53kg
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (UWW)

55kg
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Veronika RJABOVOLOVA (MKD)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Olga POPOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Felicitas DOMAJEVA (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK LISZEWSKA (POL)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Aleksandra SKIRENKO (UWW)
Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (UWW)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Viktoria BOYNOVA (BUL)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Anna TIELIEGINA (LTU)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Marta HETMANAVA (UWW)
Svetlana LIPATOVA (UWW)

62kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Alicja WOJEWODZKA NOWOSAD (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Amina TANDELOVA (UWW)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)

65kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Nina BODISTEANU (MDA)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Kriszta INCZE (ROU)
Kerstin NYGREN (SWE)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

68kg
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Karolina DOMASZUK (POL)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW)

72kg
Karolina POK (HUN)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Alina ANTIPOVA (LAT)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR)
Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR)
Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW)