Aliyev leads as Azerbaijan wins six Paris 2024 quota at European qualifier

Sunday, April 7, 2024 - 22:29 By Vinay Siwach

BAKU, Azerbaijan (April 7) -- Haji ALIYEV (AZE) on the mat in front of a packed stadium in Baku for an Olympic spot. The fans cheered every time he scored. It only got louder as he inched towards victory. As the final whistle blew, Aliyev stretched his arms and fell on the mat even as the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku was defeaning.

Two-time Olympic medalist Aliyev, 32, qualified Azerbaijan for the Paris Olympics at 65kg with an entertaining 6-4 victory over European champion Islan DUDAEV (ALB). Aliyev was back.

Since winning the silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics, Aliyev has not dominated the 65kg weight class. He finished fifth at the 2022 World Championships and eighth at the 2023 edition.

Azerbaijan was losing confidence in its star as the Paris Olympics came closer with it still to earning a qualification. Aliyev was under pressure and his conditioning was being questioned. And a few youngsters were knocking on the door.

Yet, Aliyev entered the European OG Qualifier in Baku as the favorite. In front of the home crowd and as the captain of the Azerbaijan Freestyle team, Aliyev had to deliver.

After seeing off Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA) and Niurgun SKRIABIN (AIN), Aliyev faced Dudaev for Paris qualification. Dudaev won the European Championships in Bucharest in February after defeating Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (AIN).

He threatened to beat Aliyev, leading 3-0 at the break. But Aliyev managed to get on a single leg and score a takedown to close the gap to 3-2. He again hit the same shot and got a takedown before using the lace to make it 6-3. Dudaev tried hard but Aliyev was too good with his defense and only gave up a stepout for one up.

Azerbaijan will most likely give Aliyev the spot in Paris 2024, his third in his career. Aliyev will be looking to win his third Olympic medal after a bronze medal in Rio 2016 and a silver in Tokyo 2020.

The second Paris 2024 quota at 65kg was won by Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO) who defeated Maxim SACULTAN (MDA), 2-1, in the other semifinal. The two wrestlers exchanged passivity but Sacultan was put on the activity clock in the second period, giving Dzebisashvili the criteria win.

Aliyev's win was one of the five that Azerbaijan had to become the first country to win all six Freestyle Olympic quotas. Apart from Aliyev, Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE), Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE), Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) earned quotas.

Rzazade seemed in a hurry to be off the mat as he opened the scoring against former European champion Vladimir EGOROV (MKD). He kicked off the bout with a stunning ankle pick for a takedown in the first five seconds of the bout and tried to soak in the Baku pressure by pacing around the mat as Egorov took time to return to the center.

In the second period, Rzazade scored a stepout when Egorov was on the activity clock, giving Rzazade a 4-0 lead. Egorov scored a takedown and was given one more point for Rzazade's fleeing at the end but the Azerbaijan wrestler won 4-3 to win the quota at 57kg.

Former world bronze medalist Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN) defeated Tokyo Olympian Georgi VANGELOV (BUL), 7-3, in a one-sided semifinal to earn the second quota at 57kg.

At 86kg, Nurmagomedov showed his skills to beat Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR), 4-1, to earn a qualification. He also defeated Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL) in the quarterfinals.

Wrestling internationally for the first time since 2021, Olympic and world bronze medalist Artur NAIFONOV (AIN) confirmed his Paris 2024 spot after a gritty 4-0 win over Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO). In the quarterfinal, Naifonov held off European champion Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) 2-1.

Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) confirmed the qualification at 125kg after he defeated Alen KHUBULOV (BUL), 7-0. The other qualification went to Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN) who defeated Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL), 9-2.

A last-minute replacement for Abdulrashid SADULAEV (IND), Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (AIN) still got the job done of qualifying after he defeated Illia ARCHAIA (UKR), 11-0 to earn the Paris 2024 quota.

The second spot at 97kg was won by Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (AIN) after his opponent Radoslaw BARAN (POL) pulled out due to an injury he suffered in the quarterfinal.

At 74kg, Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) did let the ghost of past affect him as he held on to a 8-8 win over Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) in a thrilling bout.

Chamizo trailed 8-6 but got awarded two caution points and almost scored a takedown which was reverted on challenge and Bayramov got a criteria win and an Olympic quota.

Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (AIN) held on to a 3-2 win over European champion Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) to win the quota. All five points were technical points.

RESULTS

57kg Paris Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE) df. Vladimir EGOROV (MKD), 4-3
SF 2: Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN) df. Georgi VANGELOV (BUL), 7-3

65kg Paris Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO) df. Maxim SACULTAN (MDA), 2-1
SF 2: Haji ALIYEV (AZE) df. Islam DUDAEV (ALB), 6-4

74kg Paris Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), 8-8
SF 2: Magomedkhabib KADIMAGOMEDOV (AIN) df. Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), 3-2

86kg Paris Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Artur NAIFONOV (AIN) df. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), 4-0
SF 2: Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) df. Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR), 4-1

97kg Paris Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Alikhan ZHABRAILOV (AIN) df. Illia ARCHAIA (UKR), 11-0
SF 2: Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (AIN) df. Radoslaw BARAN (POL), via inj. def.

125kg Paris Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN) df. Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL), 9-2
SF 2: Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) df. Alen KHUBULOV (BUL), 7-0

#BeachWrestling

Algeria sweeps African Beach Wrestling Championships

Saturday, September 13, 2025 - 12:23 By United World Wrestling Press

CASABLANCA, Morocco (September 12) -- Rising African heavyweight prodigies, Skander BENMOHAMED (ALG) and Billel BALI (ALG) guided Algeria to the team title of the U17 African Beach Wrestling Championship.

Algeria also bagged the women’s team title, led by a dominating double gold display by Meriem Safiya GRIB (ALG), thus completing a stellar show at the continental competition held in Casablanca, Morocco, on September 4 and 5.

The serene Ain Diab beach, with its gleaming sands and turquoise waters, hosted the best U15, U17, and U20 African talents for the two-day competition. The age-group tournaments were held before the Beach Wrestling World Series event, which was held for the first time in an African city, underlining United World Wrestling’s commitment to increasing the sport’s presence in Africa.

Over the two days of action, wrestling aficionados got a glimpse of some of the best talent from the continent. For many, this was also a build-up to the Dakar Youth Olympic Games, which are less than 500 days away.

From an African point of view, Algeria set an early marker. With two gold medals in the men’s events, in the 80 and 90 kg, and one in the women’s section, the country’s wrestlers dominated the proceedings and finished on top of the overall team rankings in the U17 age group.

Benmohamed, who won the U17 African Championships bronze medals earlier this year in mat wrestling, reigned supreme in the 90kg category.

In his first bout, the 17-year-old edged out Aboubacar Demba CAMARA (GUI) in a close affair before coming into his own and stamping his authority over Ali OUIDAD (MAR) 3-0 and Rihan BRITS (RSA) 3-0 to finish on top of the four-man round-robin draw. With three wins out of three, Benmohamed finished ahead of Ouidad to win the gold medal.

Benmohamed completed a super double by winning the gold medal in the U20 category as well. The Algerian defeated Lahcen AIT ELASRI (MAR) and Mohamed Amine EL MEKKAOUI (MAR) for a double podium finish.

Bali had a chance to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot. In the U17 80kg, Bali blanked Fahd RAZKANE (MAR) for a win by superiority in less than a minute-and-a-half to win the gold medal. However, in the U20 event, he could win just once and finished fourth in the five-man field.

Elbara BENAMMAR (ALG) added a third medal to Algeria's kitty in the men’s U17 category by winning the bronze in the 60kg category. Benammar began strongly by defeating Ernest DIATTA (SEN) and David Kanyimbu Mputu De DEUS (ANG) on technical superiority. However, he lost to Dan KEGODE (KEN) in the third round and then went down once again to Ibrahim DOSSO (CIV) in the semifinals.

Benammar shrugged off the disappointments to finish his campaign with another win by superiority over Hatim RAJAY (MAR) to take home the bronze medal.

With that, Algeria finished with a total of 77 points, ahead of second-placed Morocco (62) and Angola (35), who finished third.

In the women’s U17 category, Grib won both her bouts without conceding a point to reign supreme in the 45kg weight class. Grib defeated Islam BENZBIRIA (MAR) 3-0 in the first round and then got the better of Tahirisoa Tinah ANDRIANAMBININA (MAD) by a similar margin.

Like Benmohamed, Grib too won two titles as she claimed the gold in the U15 category as well, conceding just one point in the three wins.

Algeria came close to a second women’s gold medal in the U17 category but Dounia ZITOUNI was beaten by Hajar KANEB (MAR) 4-2 in the 55kg final. Zitouni won the gold medal in style, after she remained undefeated throughout the competition.

Jemimah Maghumicha WANJALA (KEN) won the 65kg gold medal without conceding a single point. In the final, which lasted less than a minute, Wanjala beat Malak Khaled Fahmy Abdelhamid ABDELGAUL (EGY) on technical superiority, just like her two wins en route to the title clash.

The gold medal in the 75kg category went to Khady Diandy BADJI (SEN), with Dune van ZYL (RSA) taking the silver while Malak SABRY (MAR) won the bronze.

Algeria were close to a gold medal clean sweep in the U20 category. They won gold medals in three out of the four weight categories in the men’s competition to win the team title. But Omar LAMBARRAA (MAR) halted their juggernaut by winning the 80kg title ahead of Bakary SOM (CIV) and Ivan LOUW (RSA).

While Bali could not finish among the medals in U20, his compatriots looked in sublime form.

Watik Aymen TITOUS (ALG) defeated Luvaan LOUW (RSA) 3-1 in the final of the 70kg category to finish on the top of the podium. Titous was largely untested throughout the competition, beating Eugine Osale OMULULE (KEN) and Saad MARIRE (MAR) without conceding a point to storm into the semifinals, where he defeated Nathan Lee STOLTZ (RSA) by technical superiority.

In the +90kg category, Noureddine BOUROUFA (ALG) won two bouts out of two without conceding a point to take home the gold medal ahead of Ruan BRITS (RSA) and Ayoub BELGADI (MAR).

In the women’s event, Kenyan wrestlers were dominant, winning two out of the three gold medals on offer. Ivyone Lusike MASIBO (KEN) reigned supreme in the 60kg class, defeating Fatima Zahra BOUCHIBI (ALG) and Hiba KABIL (MAR) to finish on top in a tough four-wrestler field. At 70kg, Faith Nanjala WAMALWA (KEN) defeated Dyvonter Ashly ODONGO (KEN) in an all-Kenyan affair to win the gold medal.

Yasmine BOUREGBA (ALG) won the title in the +70kg category, defeating Hafsa ECH CHABBI by technical superiority.

Algerian women and men, meanwhile, won two gold medals each as they won the team titles in the U15 sections to extend their dominance on the beach.

Younes MOUSSI (ALG) set the ball rolling by finishing on top in the 50kg category, winning both his bouts in dominating fashion. Later, Houdaifa BARKAT (ALG) defeated Mignane NDONG (SEN) to win the 55kg gold medal.

Senegalese beach wrestlers showed spunk after Mbaye NIANG and Ibrahima SARR picked up the 60kg and 75kg titles, with Michael OOSTHUIZEN (RSA) rallying to the top of the podium in 65kg.

Senegal won two more gold medals in the women’s section. Fatou Bintou COLY (SEN) ensured Algeria did not complete a golden hat-trick as she defeated Soudjoud BOULEBDA (ALG) in a crucial third-round bout to win the gold medal. Both wrestlers had won their opening two matches. In the winner-takes-all Round 3, Coly beat her Algerian rival on superiority for the title. Similarly, Elisabeth DIATTA beat Tasnim CHOUIHI (ALG) to win the 60kg gold medal.

Algerian wrestlers, meanwhile, won the two lightest weight categories. While Grib opened Algeria’s account with the 45kg gold medal, Maram Yamna BOUKHIBAR (ALG) finished ahead of Shalying JOY (KEN) and Ndeye Codou SENGHOR (SEN) to win the 50kg title.

Kenya’s Janet Inwesi OMUMASABA won the 65 kg gold, beating Higidia Januario De Gouveia LEITE (ANG) by technical superiority.

Aliyev leads as Azerbaijan wins six Paris 2024 quota at European qualifier

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Algeria sweeps African Beach Wrestling Championships