#development

Baattiah first female member of Saudi Wrestling's board

Sunday, June 12, 2022 - 11:36 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 10) -- In a significant step forward for women’s wrestling in Saudi Arabia as well as the United World Wrestling’s push for gender equality, Amal BAATTIAH has been elected as the first female member of the Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation’s executive board.

Baattiah’s election is part of the wider strategy for wrestling in Saudi Arabia, which has witnessed rapid growth in the last few years thanks to the support and cooperation between the Saudi Wrestling Federation and UWW.

It also underlines the importance of the UWW’s development programs, which are providing immediate results in improving gender equality in wrestling. Baattiah was a participant in the Women Lead Sports Master Program, which was spearheaded by world-renowned expert Gabriela Mueller.

The Women Lead Sports Master Program has been designed to empower participants to shape the future of wrestling as a global sport, learn effective leadership strategies and techniques, and increase a diverse leadership talent pool within all levels at the UWW.

Baattiah graduated from the program in January 2022. And earlier this month, she broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to get elected to the Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation board. Her election marks another landmark moment for the development of the sport in Saudi Arabia.

In the last few years, with support from the UWW, the country has taken important initiatives to educate its coaches and referees, developed infrastructure and focussed on the grassroots.

Since 2017, the Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation has held coaching and refereeing courses every year, except for the break forced by the pandemic. These courses were held under the supervision of UWW-certified educators.

In January 2021, the first-ever introduction to refereeing course was conducted for women and later that year, in December, a similar course for women coaches was organized.

Olympic bronze medalists Marwa AMRI (TUN) and Clarissa CHUN (USA) attend the introduction of coaches course in Saudi Arabia, (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The country’s wrestlers have also been a part of the UWW’s More than Medals program every year for the last five years. As much as sporting skills, the workshop teaches the wrestlers life skills, which help them prepare for a career after sport.

At the same time, there have been constant efforts to improve the wrestling infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation established three training centres in 2015 and one in 2018. These centers are situated in Riyadh, Dammam, Makkah and Jeddah. Over the years, the UWW has donated six wrestling mats to Saudi Arabia while the national federation has imported four more mats. In the first six months of this year, 10 new mats have already arrived in Riyadh.

On the administrative front, Saudi Arabian Wrestling Federation President Fahad ALFARRAJ was elected as a vice-president of the Arab Wrestling Federation.

All these developmental activities have shown results on the mat.

Wrestlers from Saudi Arabia participated in the World Championships for the first time in 2017. It was also the first-ever world-level participation by the country’s wrestlers since 1980.

Since then, Saudi wrestlers have been a constant presence at junior and senior international tournaments and have started to make their presence felt on the podium as well. In 2019, the country won a bronze medal at the World School Combat Games in Budapest. In the same year, four Saudi Arabian wrestlers won bronze medals at the U15 Asian Championships in Chinese Taipei.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia won its first-ever Arab Championship gold medal, with five wrestlers finishing on top of the podium at the U17 and U20 Arab Championship in Makkah. Saudi Arabia was ranked second in the championship where 12 Arab countries participated.

In 2023, Saudi Arabia will host the U17 and U23 Asian Championship and will also host the Arab Championships for both age groups for the first time ever.

#WrestleTirana

Interview: Iran Greco-Roman coach Hassan Rangraz

Sunday, February 16, 2025 - 10:38 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 14) -- Iran won its first Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman at the 2012 London Games. Rio 2016 was a blank but Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) won at the Tokyo Olympics. Soon, Iran changed the coaching staff and brought in Hassan RANGRAZ to lead the Iran team.

Rangraz enjoyed success at various levels but the 2024 Paris Olympics was one of the best that Iran had. Two gold medals, one silver and one bronze made it the most successful Olympics for Iran.

The 44-year-old soft-spoken former world champ has a different personality while coaching. He rarely takes the role of first coach during the bouts. But he is always animated in the corner, shouting instructions to his wrestlers and sometimes reacting to the referee's decisions.

As the new Olympic cycle for the 2028 Los Angeles Games begins, United World Wrestling caught up with Rangraz at the season opening Zagreb Open Ranking Series. Rangraz explained the success of Iran's Greco-Roman team, training in Tehran, defended the selection process and the fans who have a say on everything in Iran wrestling.

Hassan RANGRAZ (IRI)Iran's national Greco-Roman coach Hassan RANGRAZ during the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

Excerpts:

- How do you see the success of Iran Greco-Roman team at the Paris Olympics?

Rangraz: In my opinion, the result of the Paris Olympics, with four medals, two of them gold, was a remarkable achievement in the history of Greco-Roman wrestling for Iran. This success was primarily due to the six years of planning by the federation, the efforts of former head coaches and previous coaches. I played a very small part in this journey.

- What is it like in the national camp for Iran?

Rangraz: Right after the Olympics, with a very short break, we began our planning. From the Olympics to the 2025 World Championships, we will have 22 training camps, totaling 220 days. We will also be competing for nearly 80 days. Out of the 365 days in a year, our wrestlers will be under direct supervision of the coaching staff for about 300 days. They will follow intense training programs and preparation matches. Even during the remaining 60 days, they will still be monitored indirectly through technical and strength training programs provided by the coaching staff.

- Iran's selection process often comes under scrutiny. Despite that, it keeps producing results. What are you thoughts on the current selection process in Iran?

Rangraz: We have a process and young wrestlers can enter this cycle to compete and prove their worth. The prime examples of this process are Esmaeili and Mohammadi. They shone in domestic and international tournaments, competed with top wrestlers in their weight classes. They performed and won Olympic medals. We are committed to implementing the national team’s selection process and giving talented young wrestlers the opportunity to prove themselves. This way, we can execute the talent identification process in the best possible way.

- What are the responsibilities and challenges as the national coach?

Rangraz: Wrestling is the number one sport in Iran and our national, patriotic, and traditional sport. Wrestling is part of Iran’s culture. Therefore, taking on the technical responsibility as the head coach primarily brings stress, anxiety, and immense pressure. On top of that, you have to be accountable for the results and take responsibility for the team’s performance. In terms of difficulty, I can confidently say that considering the intense scrutiny, being the head coach of the national team is so challenging it’s like working in a mine.

- The fans of Iranian wrestling are always involved. How do you see this and does it affect you in any way?

Rangraz: As I mentioned earlier, 80 million Iranians have a deep love for wrestling. Perhaps that’s why a tournament that may not hold much significance for people from other countries is so important to our people. They follow it closely, they care about it, they rejoice in victories and worry about defeats. This immense passion and support from fans is the greatest strength and asset for wrestling in our country.

- What is the roadmap for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics?

Rangraz: We believe that the Olympic Games are just around the corner. Four years go by very quickly. To succeed in the Olympics, you need to work hard, but also work smart. You can’t afford to miss a single training session or day. With this mindset and determination and knowing how high and legitimate the expectations are, we continue on our path with great strength, despite all the pressures we feel in every competition.

I believe the future of Iranian wrestling is very bright. Iran is passionate about wrestling. One of my dreams is that, just like in 1998 and 2002, we can once again host the World Wrestling Championships in Iran. The main reason for this is that nowhere else in the world will you find such passionate and numerous fans. These fans are the greatest asset of world wrestling, not just Iranian wrestling, and their expectation is to host a World Championship event.