CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (February 2) – Russian Olympic medalists David CHAKVETADZE (85kg) and Sergey SEMENOV (130kg) came away with victories at Ivan Poddubny Grand Prix in January and firmed up claims to their lofty positions in the United World Wrestling rankings for Greco-Roman.

Rio 2016 gold medalist Chakvetadze forged four wins at the Sport Complex in Moscow, including a 3-1 victory over European silver medal winner Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) in the final, to reinforce his top-ranked position at middleweight.

Meanwhile, Olympic bronze medal winner Semenov emerged the victor, 1-1, in a rematch of his Rio 2016 pairing with European under-23 champion Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) in the quarterfinals and fortified his claim to the No.3 ranking with the Poddubny title.

Also in Moscow, 2013 world champion at heavyweight Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) won his third Poddubny crown with a 4-2 victory over Golden Grand Prix Final winner Musa EVLOEV (RUS) in the 98kg final. The win lifted Melnikov from No.7 to No.5 in the rankings, while Evloev climbed five places to No.8.

European champion at 75kg Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) broke the Russian monopoly on Poddubny titles with four wins at 80kg for the title and a promotion to No.8 in the welterweight rankings.

The biggest jump of the month was made in Moscow by world military champion Aleksey KIYANKIN (RUS) who marched to the 66kg title with five wins -- three of them technical falls – to go from unranked to No.11 in the rankings.

The other major event in January that included competition in the classic style was the Paris Grand Prix, where Asia champion Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) went from No.11 to eighth in the rankings at 80kg.

World student champion and European U23 winner Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) had the second highest reach from Paris, going from unranked to No.13 after a runner-up performance 85kg. 

Wrestlers in the rankings are listed by name, country code, most notable or most recent result over the last 12 months, and their position in the previous rankings.

59kg – World military runner-up Mohsen HAJIPOUR (IRI) notched three wins, including a technical fall over Asian bronze medal winner Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ), to win the Paris Grand Prix and claim No.14 in the rankings. Ainagulov joins the list at No.16.

1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Arsen ERALIEV (KGZ) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
7. Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) – GGP Final No.1 (11)
8. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (11)
9. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.1 (8)
10. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – GGP Final No.3 (9)
11. WANG Lumin (CHN) – Rio 2016 OG No.8 (10)
12. YUN Won-Chol (PRK) – Asia No.5 (12)
13. Zhanbolat LOKAEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (18)
14. Mohsen HAJIPOUR (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (Not Ranked)
15. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (17)
16. Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) – Paris GP No.2 (nr)
17. Sergey EMELIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (nr)
18. Haitham Mahmoud FAHMY (EGY) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (13)
19. Soslan DAUROV (BLR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (14)
20. Firuz TUKHTAEV (UZB) – GGP Final No.2 (19)

66kg – Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) rolled up a pair of technical falls and defeated European under-23 champion Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) in the Pairs final for No.15 in the rankings. The triumph was Aslanyan’s first international win since taking the junior world title in 2013.

1. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Migran ARUTUNYAN (ARM) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Tomohiro INOUE (JPN) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
7. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – German GP No.1 (7)
8. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – GGP Final No.1 (9)
9. Islambek ALBIEV (RUS) - Europe No.1 (8)
10. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Spanish GP No.1 (10)
11. Aleksey KIYANKIN (RUS) – Poddobny GP No.1 (nr)
12. Mehdi ZEIDVAND (IRI) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (12)
13. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Spanish GP No.1 (13)
14. Zaur KANALOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (nr)
15. Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (nr)
16. CHOI Gi-Uk (KOR) – GGP Final No.3 (15)
17. Demeu ZHADRATEV (KAZ) – Paris GP No.2@71 (19)
18. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – Paris GP No.2 (nr)
19. Matias LIPASTI (FIN) – Kare Int’l No.1 (20)
20. Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU) – Kare Int’l No.3 (nr)

71kg – Hungarian Grand Prix runner-up Robert FRITSCH (HUN) edged world student silver medalist Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ), 2-0, to reel in his first international triumph at the Paris Grand Prix for No.16 in the rankings.

1. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – World No.1 (1)
2. Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) – World No.2 (2)
3. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – World No.3 (3)
4. Ilie COJOCARI (ROU) – World No.3 (4)
5. Adam KURAK (RUS) – World No.5 (5)
6. Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) – World No.5 (6)
7. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.1 (7)
8.  Varsham BORANYAN (ARM) – Europe No.1 (8)
9. Yuri DENISOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (10)
10. Artak MARGARYAN (FRA) – World No.7 (9)
11. Dawid KARECINSKI (POL) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (11)
12. Pavel LIAKH (BLR) – World University No.1 (12)
13. Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) – Poddubny No.1 (16)
14. ZHANG Ridong (CHN) – GGP Final No.3 (13)
15. Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) – GGP Final No.3 (14)
16. Robert FRITSCH (HUN) – Paris GP No.1 (nr)
17. Timo BADUSCH (GER) – German GP No.2 (15)
18. Armen VARDANYAN (UKR) – Trophee Milone No.2 (17)
19. Askhat ZHANBIROV (KAZ) – Asia No.2 (18)
20. Yunus OZEL (TUR) – LIG Int’l No.1 (19)

75kg – Former world champion Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) took the Poddubny Grand Prix title for the second year in a row to climb four places to No.9 while European bronze medal winner Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) won in Paris to step up one rung at No.14.

1. Roman VLASOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Mark MADSEN (DEN) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – GGP Final No.1 (7)
7. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – GGP Final No.2 (8)
8. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Poddubny GP No.1@80 (9)
9. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (13)
10. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
11. Doszhan KARTIKOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (10)
12. YANG Bin (CHN) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (11)
13. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (12)
14. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (15)
15. Aleksander CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (nr)
16. Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO) – Spanish GP No.1 (14)
17. Antonio KAMENIASEVIC (CRO) – Poddubny GP No.3 (nr)
18. Zoltan LEVAI (HUN) – Paris GP No.3 (nr)
19. Yurisandi HERNANDEZ RIOS (CUB) – Spanish GP No.2 (19)
20. Esen ASANOV (KGZ) – World University No.1 (20)

80kg – Adlan AKIEV (RUS) came out on the short end of a 3-3 decision to Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) in the Poddubny Grand Prix but breaks into the rankings at No.14. European champion Datunashvili climbed one place to No.8 in the rankings at 75kg.

1. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – World No.1 (1)
2. Aslan ATEM (TUR) – World No.2 (2)
3. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – World No.3 (3)
4. Jonibek OTABEKOV (UZB) – World No.3 (4)
5. Ashkat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – World No.5 (5)
6. Nikolozi KELASOV (GEO) – World No.5 (6)
7. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (7)
8. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (11)
9. Selcuk CEBI (TUR) – German GP No.1 (8)
10. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (9)
11. Pascal EISELE (GER) – World Military No.1 (10)
12. Edgar BABAYAN (POL) – Europe No.2 (12)
13. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – World University No.3 (13)
14. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (nr)
15. Pavel POMINCHUK (BLR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (15)
16. Alexandros KESSIDIS (SWE) – Paris GP No.3 (17)
17. Eduard SARGSYAN (ARM) – German GP No.3 (14)
18. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Europe No.3 (16)
19. Peter NAGY (HUN) – Paris GP No.2 (nr)
20. Daulet ZHAKSYLYKOV (KAZ) – Paris GP No.3 (nr) 

85kg – Rio 2016 Olympian Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) opened the Paris Grand Prix with a technical fall victory over European bronze medal winner Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) and rolled to his first career international title and No.14 in the rankings.

1. David CHAKVETADZE (RUS) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Denis KUDLA (GER) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Javid HAMZATOV (BLR) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
7. Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) – Rio OG No.7 (7)
8. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (8)
9. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (9)
10. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) – GGP Final No.2 (10)
11. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Poddubny GP No.2 (11)
12. Nikolai STADUB (BLR) – World University No.2 (13)
13. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) – Paris GP No.2 (nr)
14. Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – Paris GP No.1 (nr)
15. Alexej MISHIN (RUS) – European OG Qualifier No.1 (14)
16. Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) – Rio OG No.8 (15)
17. Rami HIETANIEMI (FIN) – Haparanda Cup No.3 (16)
18. Damian JANIKOWSKI (POL) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (17)
19. Zakarias BERG (SWE) – Haparanda Cup No.1 (18)
20. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) – German GP No.2 (19)

98kg – European champion Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) fashioned a 4-2 win over Golden Grand Prix Final winner Musa EVLOEV (RUS) in the final of the Poddubny Grand Prix to climb to No.5 in the heavyweight rankings. Evloev, meanwhile, advanced five places to No.8.

1. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Ghasem REZAEI (IRI) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (7)
6. Fredrik SCHOEN (SWE) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
7. Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
8. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (13)
9. Mahdi ALIYARI FEYZABADI (IRI) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (10)
10. Islam MAGOMEDOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.8 (9)
11. Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) – GGP Final No.2 (12)
12. Elis GURI (BUL) – Rio OG No.7 (8)
13. Balasz KISS (HUN) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (11)
14. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) – Paris GP No.1 (nr)
15. Maksim SAFARYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (16)
16. Dimitri TIMCHENKO (UKR) – Trophee Milone No.2 (14)
17. Daigoro TIMONCINI (ITA) – Hungarian GP No.2 (15)
18. Timofej DZEYNICHENKO (BLR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (17)
19. Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN) – Kare Int’l No.1 (nr)
20. Hayden ZILLMER (USA) – Kare Int’l No.2 (nr)

130kg – World student bronze medalist Aleksey GRISHIN (RUS) rebounded from an early loss to eventual winner Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) with a pair of wins in Moscow for his second bronze medal in three months and No.16 in the rankings.

(Note: Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI) was removed from the United World Wrestling rankings (No.11 in December) after the announcement of his suspension in early January for violations of the federation’s anti-doping policy.)

1. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
5. Eduard POPP (GER) – Rio OG No.5 (5)
6. Heiki NABI (EST) – Rio OG No.5 (6)
7. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) – European U23 No.1 (7)
8. Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) – GGP Final No.3 (9)
9. Iosif CHUGOSHVILI (BLR) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.2 (10)
10. Johan Magnus EUREN (SWE) – Europe No.3 (8)
11. MENG Qiang (CHN) – Hungarian GP No.1 (12)
12. Balint LAM (HUN) – World University No.1 (15)
13. Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR) – GGP Final No.2 (16)
14. Vitali SHCHUR (RUS) – German GP No.2 (14)
15. Murat RAMONOV (KGZ) – Asia No.2 (13)
16. Aleksey GRISHIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (nr)
17. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) – Turlykhanov Memorial No.1 (18)
18. Amir GHASEMI MONJAZI (IRI) – Paris GP No.1 (19)
19. Tuomas LAHTI (FIN) – Arvo Haavisto Cup No.1 (17)
20. Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) – Kare Int’l No.1 (20)