#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series 2026 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 30) -- The fourth and final stop in the Ranking Series will be held in Budapest, Hungary from July 15 to 19.

The Polyak Imre, Varga Janos & Kozma Istvan Memorial tournament will be held at the BOK Sports Hall with Freestyle kicking off action. Women's Wrestling will be held after Freestyle before Greco-Roman finishes things off things of the five-day tournament.

All the matches, highlights and live action from Budapest will be available on UWW+ on uww.org.

Note: The entries are subject to change until 72 hours before the start of the respective style.

UWW+

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (BLR)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Timothy LEVINE (CAN)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Rassoul GALBOURAEV (FRA)
Nikoloz BOTCHORISHVILI (GEO)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Balazs RACZ (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
RAHUL (IND)
Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Anthony KNOX (USA)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Maximilian LEETE BENZAN (DOM)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Ramaz TURMANIDZE (GEO)
DEEPAK (IND)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)

65kg
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Magomedkhan MAGAMEDKHANOV (BLR)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Matias MUNOZ (CHI)
Xuexian OU (CHN)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Mohit KUMAR (IND)
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI)
Ali KHORRAMDEL (IRI)
Adil OSPANOV (KAZ)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Ossimzhan DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Beau BARTLETT (USA)

70kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Marton VARGA (HUN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI)
Maiis ALIYEV (KAZ)
Olzhas OLZHAKANOV (KAZ)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR)
Alec PANTALEO (USA)
Ridge LOVETT (USA)

74kg
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Feng LU (CHN)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Benjamin DOBLER (HUN)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Sagar JAGLAN (IND)
Darkhan YESSENGALI (KAZ)
Kuandyk SHALDAR (KAZ)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Sangho HAN (KOR)
Ebierelayefa ANDREW (NGR)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Cuneyt BUDAK (TUR)
Muhammed BESIR (TUR)
William LEWAN (USA)
Farhad NOURI (UWW)

79kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Sandeep MANN (IND)
Nurdaulet KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
Shamsat TAIR (KAZ)
Yerkhan ABIL (KAZ)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)

86kg
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Franco GONZALEZ (CHI)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Christopher FOCA (DOM)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
AMIT (IND)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Abylaikhan UZEMBAYEV (KAZ)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Rustem MYRZAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Alperen ATAR (TUR)

92kg
Jorge LLANO (ARG)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Sali SALIEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Zaur BERADZE (GEO)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
Zeteny GANGL (HUN)
Punit KUMAR (IND)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Bekzat AMANGALI (KAZ)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Anton VYHIVSKYI (SVK)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Dustin PLOTT (USA)
Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI (BLR)
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Matias URIBE SEPULVEDA (CHI)
Junpeng ZHOU (CHN)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Rifat Eren GIDAK (TUR)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Vasyl SOVA (UKR)
Jacob CARDENAS (USA)

125kg
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Milan GELLEN (HUN)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
DINESH (IND)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Nursultan AZOV (KAZ)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Omar Ihab SAREM (ROU)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Yurii IDZINSKYI (UKR)
Demetrius THOMAS (USA)
Mason PARRIS (USA)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)

Musa EVLOEV (RUS)Musa EVLOEV (RUS) is looking to return to international wrestling after five years. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Dogukan Karadag)

Greco-Roman

55kg
LALIT (IND)
Alpamys DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Alibek AMIROV (RUS)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)
Max NOWRY (USA)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
Augusto VARGAS (CHI)
BAOYINJIYA (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Mahmoud SAAD (EGY)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Abdolmohammad PAPI (GER)
CHETAN (IND)
SUMIT (IND)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Yernur FIDAKHMETOV (KAZ)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS)
Sadyk LALAEV (RUS)
Enes BASAR (TUR)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Jace KOELZER (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)
Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

63kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Sakit GULIYEV (AZE)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Sergey EMELIN (RUS)
Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Xavier JOHNSON (USA)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

67kg
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)
Mahammad SHUKURZADE (AZE)
Dongyu LI (CHN)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Christopher KRAEMER (GER)
DEEPAK (IND)
Sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Din Mukhamed KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Meiirzhan SHERMAKHANBET (KAZ)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Daniial AGAEV (RUS)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (RUS)
Ruslan BICHURIN (RUS)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Otto Elliot BLACK (USA)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)
Sardor YULDASHEV (UZB)

72kg
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Mishiko ALEKSANDRIA (GEO)
Nika BROLADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
ANIL (IND)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Rabil ASKEROV (RUS)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Brett BACK (USA)
Ahmad KODIROV (UZB)
Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB)

77kg
Eduardo BERNAL MOLINA (CHI)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Wenhao HU (CHN)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Anri PUTKARADZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Tamerlan SHADUKAYEV (KAZ)
Alibek BERDIEV (KGZ)
Kyeongbin LEE (KOR)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Danil GRIGOREV (RUS)
Ismail BARAKHOEV (RUS)
Sergei KUTUZOV (RUS)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Joel ADAMS (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)
Jamol JUMABAEV (UZB)

82kg
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Tornike MIKELADZE (GEO)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
PRINCE (IND)
Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (RUS)
Gamzat GADZHIEV (RUS)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Ognjen JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Jesse PORTER (USA)
Azimjon SOATULLAEV (UZB)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)

87kg
Likui SHI (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Mohamed DYAB (EGY)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Rohit BURA (IND)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Timur OSPANOV (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Islam ALIEV (RUS)
Milad ALIRZAEV (RUS)
Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Zegang WANG (CHN)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Luka GABISONIA (GEO)
Darius KIEFER (GER)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Ilia ERMOLENKO (RUS)
Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
Branko DUKIC (SRB)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Timothy YOUNG (USA)

130kg
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
DEEPANSHU (IND)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Nurbolot TOKTOGONOV (KGZ)
Marat KAMPAROV (RUS)
Sergei SEMENOV (RUS)
Fatih BOZKURT (TUR)
Adam COON (USA)
Aden ATTAO (USA)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Javokhir SHODIYAROV (UZB)
Rafael TSITSUASHVILI (UZB)

Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) is entered at 59kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Thalia OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Katie DUTCHAK (CAN)
Kaura COLES (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Laura FATH (HUN)
DIPANSHI (IND)
Priyanshi PRAJAPAT (IND)
Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR)
Agata GOLUCHOWSKA (POL)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (RUS)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Samara CHAVEZ (USA)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)

53kg
Adrianny CASTILLO (ARG)
Asmar JANKURTARAN (AZE)
Nargiz SAMADOVA (AZE)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Antonia VALDES (CHI)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ (ECU)
Bianka FATH (HUN)
ANTIM (IND)
MEENAKSHI (IND)
NISHU (IND)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Natia SVANIDZE (RUS)
Ivana GAJIC (SRB)
Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA)
Sydney PETZINGER (USA)

55kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Ainur ASHIMOVA (KAZ)
Laura ALMAGANBETOVA (KAZ)
Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)

57kg
Camila AMARILLA (ARG)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Valeryia MIKITSICH (BLR)
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Kexin HONG (CHN)
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Neha SHARMA (IND)
TAPSYA (IND)
Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Jumoke ADEKOYE (NGR)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Georgiana LIRCA (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Tindra DALMYR (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)

59kg
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
NEHA (IND)
Guldana BEKESH (KAZ)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Abigail NETTE (USA)
Alexis JANIAK (USA)

62kg
Veranika IVANOVA (BLR)
Lais NUNES (BRA)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Yaru WU (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Yasmine SOLIMAN (HUN)
MANSI (IND)
SAVITA (IND)
Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Alicja WOJEWODZKA (POL)
Amina TANDELOVA (RUS)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

65kg
Sofia VEMBA (ANG)
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Virginia JIMENEZ (CHI)
PULKIT (IND)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Agnes NYGREN (SWE)
Jennifer PAGE ROGERS (USA)

68kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Alina SHAUCHUK (BLR)
Ella DOORNAERT (CAN)
Miki ROWBOTTOM (CAN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Zelu LI (CHN)
Laura KOEHLER (GER)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
NISHA (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (RUS)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (RUS)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)

72kg
Diksha MALIK (IND)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)

76kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (BLR)
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Shuiyan CHENG (CHN)
Wenji LI (CHN)
Genesis REASCO (ECU)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
KAJAL (IND)
PRIYA (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Eunju HWANG (KOR)
Damola OJO (NGR)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Evelin UJHELJI (SRB)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Tristan KELLY (USA)

#WrestleBudapest

Ranking Series: Tazhudinov leads star-studded Freestyle field

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 15) -- Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) marked his return after the Paris Olympic Games with gold at the Grand Prix of Spain. If his opponents thought their will be any rust after the long break, they were mistaken. Tazhudinov won four bouts, all via technical superiority, without giving up a point.

And if you missed watching the Grand Prix, Tazhudinov continues his return in Budapest at the Ranking Series, the last before the World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Women's Wrestling Preview | Greco-Roman Preview

Tazhudinov has been on an eight-tournament gold-medal winning streak dating back to 2023 Asian Championships. The only international loss he suffered was in 2023 at the Ibrahim Mustafa Ranking Series. But Tazhudinov now is perhaps the best wrestler walking on the planet right now.

The 97kg weight class in Budapest will see Tazhudinov take on the likes of Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK), Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO), Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL), Jay AIELLO (USA), Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW) among others.

But no name on that list seems a threat to Tazhudinov, who is likely to put on another masterclass.

Tazhudinov is not the only start landing in Budapest. Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW), Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE), Islam DUDAEV (ALB), Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE) and Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO) to name a few others.

European silver medalist Kadzimahamedau will be at 86kg, his weight class since the start of this season as he tries to be at his third Olympics in 2028. But the bracket in Budapest will be a testing one as Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA), Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI), Boris MAKOEV (SVK) and Osman GOCEN (TUR) are some of the big names.

Savadkouhi is leading a small Iran team that made it to Budapest. While he will be at 86kg, Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI) and Sina KHALILI (IRI) are entered at 70kg. Fariborz BABAEI (IRI) will be at 79kg for Iran.

Khalili and Ebrahimzadeh are potentially trying to be on the Iran team for Zagreb. A win in Budapest will at least guarantee the winner a domestic playoff of chance if Iran decides that way.

But a gold medal won't be easy. European medalist Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM), Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE), world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) and world silver medalist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) are all going for gold.

Aoyagi, who will be Japan's representative in Zagreb as well, will be the favorite given his crafty style and technique. Muszukajev has not looked the same as he did while winning the 2023 world gold in Belgrade.

For Babaei at 79kg, the challenge will come from Asian medalist Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN), European silver medalist Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA), world silver medalist Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), European Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), former world U20 silver Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN).

Kougiomtsidis is competing for the first time since the Paris Games in which he lost in first round. But at 79kg, Kougiomtsidis can be a real threat for his opponent.

Gamkrelidze, a force at 79kg, is dropping from 86kg after an unsuccessful attempt to qualify for Paris and even at April's European Championships. Kamiya won the Meiji Cup recently and will be Japan's representative at 79kg in Zagreb.

In one of the highly contested weight classes, 74kg can see a few surprises. Azerbaijan is sending Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) and Magomed KHANIEV (AZE), undoubtedly its best talents at this weight class.

Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN), the world U23 champion, and returning after injury will be keen on proving himself at the senior level. Asian silver medalist Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), European bronze Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and United States' star David CARR (USA) are also in the field.

Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN) and JAIDEEP (IND) will hope to finish on the podium at 74kg.

At 92kg also, Azerbaijan has Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) and Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), perhaps in a bid to finalize their selection for Zagreb. 

But it will be European champion Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) who will be the favorite to win the gold medal in Budapest. World silver medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) needs to find his confidence back before World Championships, and medal in Budapest will do exactly that.

The 57kg weight class has world U20 champion Luke LILLEDAHL (USA) who will be at his first Ranking Series and it will be big test for him. He has the likes of Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE), Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO), Luka GVINJILIA (GEO), Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW), RAHUL (IND) and Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ) who have senior level experience.

A gold medal in Budapest can give a big boost to Lilledahl as he tries to make the senior team in the U.S. in the coming years. He lost to Spencer LEE (USA) in the domestic playoffs for World Championships.

Asian champion Takara SUDA (JPN), who won in Tirana, will be at 61kg and so will be his opponent UDIT (IND), who lost to Suda in the final in Amman.

Add to the mix Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR), who recently won the Yasar Dogu. Incidentally, he also beat Udit in the final in Turkiye. Former world silver medalist Seth GROSS (USA) has also entered at 61kg. 

Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Islam DUDAEV (ALB) missed the European Championships due to an injury but he is returning to international competition. He may face stiff challenge from Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM), Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA), SUJEET (IND) and Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK).

European champion at 125kg Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) has a chance to earn more ranking points before the World Championships with a gold medal in Budapest. 

While he starts as the favorite, he is likely to face Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO) who lost to him in the final seconds of the European final to finish with silver. The Georgian will be keen to avenge that loss. Matcharashvili, European champion at 97kg, will also be at 125kg perhaps to not reduce weight before the World Championships.

European U23 champions Georgi IVANOV (BUL) and Alen KHUBULOV (BUL, , Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN) and Robert BARAN (POL) are also contenders to finish on the podium.