#WrestleBirmingham

Commonwealth Games, Birmingham Day 2 finals set

By Vinay Siwach

COVENTRY, England (August 6) -- The second day of the Commonwealth Games is live from the Coventry Arena. Three freestyle and three women's wrestling weight classes will be in action again. Ravi KUMAR (IND) and Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) are the big stars in action.

MATCH ORDER

13:05: Madison PARKS (CAN) with an underhook for four in the final second to win 9-6 against Pooja GEHLOT (IND) who was leading 6-0 at one point of the bout. Parks will wrestle for the gold

12:55: Nishant RANDHAWA (CAN) shuts out Tayab RAZA (IND) 7-0 to make it to the 97kg final. He will wrestle U20 world bronze medalist Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) for the gold.

12:50: Ravi KUMAR (IND) is into the final at 57kg and he will wrestle Ebikewenimo WELSON (NGR).

12:40: Muhammad TAHIR (PAK) will wrestle NAVEEN (IND) for the gold at 74kg after he beats Cole HAWKINS (NZL) 11-0.

12:35: The first finalist at 74kg is NAVEEN (IND). He beats Charlie BOWLING (ENG) 12-1 in just over three minutes to reach the gold medal bout

12:30: Justina DI STASIO (CAN) with a solid 6-0 win over Pooja SIHAG (IND) to enter the final at 76kg. She will wrestle Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) who defeated Georgina NELTHORPE (ENG) 6-1 in the other semifinal.

12:15: Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN) and Deepak NEHRA (IND) with a thrilling bout. Nehra had a 4-4 criteria lead at the break but Randhawa scored a takedown to lead 6-6 before Nehra made it 6-6 with 22 seconds left. Randhawa then scored a stepout with three seconds left to win 7-6

11:55: Muhammad TAHIR (PAK) and Jasmit PHULKA (CAN) with a top battle at 74kg. Phulka got awarded the point for Tahir's passivity and Tahir scored a stepout to lead 1-1. With less than 30 seconds left, Tahir moved Phulka to the zone from where he was warned for fleeing. Canada challenged the call and lost which gave Tahir a 3-1 lead. Phulka was forced into par terre from where Tahir managed two more to win 5-1

11:25: Huge bout at 53kg in Round 2. Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) up against Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR). Phogat with an early takedown using a go behind. She then goes for a leg cross and gets two more to lead 4-0 at the break. Phogat with underhook to put Adekuoroye on the back and she is looking for the pin. The two remain in danger for the remaining time. Phogat wins 6-0

11:13:  Madison PARKS (CAN) scores a huge 12-0 win over Shriyanthika NIROSHANI (SRI) to book her semifinal berth against Pooja GEHLOT (IND)

11:03: What a bout we had on Mat A at 74kg. Jasmit PHULKA (CAN) and Nicolae COJOCARU (SCO) continued some high-paced wrestling. Cojocaru led 5-5 on criteria with 30 seconds left but Phulka used his experience to score a takedown and ran the clock down to 4 seconds. He wins 7-4

10:50: Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) with a fall over world bronze medalist Samantha STEWART (CAN). Her second bout will be against Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR) who won 10-0 against Chamodya KESHANI (SRI) at 53kg 

10:45: Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) with a 9-0 win over Madison PARKS (CAN) and Pooja GEHLOT (IND) defeats Christelle LETCHIDJIO (SCO) 12-2 and both reach the semifinals at 50kg

10:30: Welcome to day two of the Commonwealth Games. Big names in the competition here with India and Canada expected to dominate the day. Women's 50kg and 53kg will follow the Nelson system

#development

Afghanistan Coaches Build Skills at UWW Level 1 Coaching Course

By United World Wrestling Press

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (June 30) -- Eleven coaches from Afghanistan were among 21 participants who completed a United World Wrestling Level 1 Coaching Course in Almaty, strengthening the country's coaching capacity while building closer ties with neighboring Kazakhstan.

Organized through a partnership between Olympic Solidarity, the Kazakhstan National Olympic Committee, the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee, the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation, and United World Wrestling, the course focused on developing internationally recognized coaching competencies while fostering collaboration between the two wrestling nations.

Apart from the 11 coaches from Afghanistan, coaches from Kazakhstan also joined for a comprehensive program. The curriculum covered coaching responsibilities, skill development using UWW's Key Factors teaching methodology, athlete-centered learning through discovery games, coaching self-reflection, risk management, and practical coaching assessment.

Afghanistan

UWW Educator and former world champion Mohammed ABDELFATTAH praised the participants for their commitment throughout the program.

"I was very impressed with the overall level of the participants," Abdelfattah said. "The coaches were highly motivated, actively participated in every session, and continuously asked thoughtful questions throughout the course."

Abdelfattah was particularly encouraged by the technical level demonstrated by the Afghan coaches.

"The Afghan coaches demonstrated a strong technical understanding of wrestling." he said. "After speaking with several participants, I learned that traditional wrestling is extremely popular in Afghanistan and shares many technical similarities with Olympic wrestling. This provides coaches with an excellent technical foundation for further development."

The practical sessions proved to be a particular highlight, with coaches working through technical demonstrations, problem-solving exercises, and athlete-centered coaching activities designed to strengthen both technical instruction and coaching methodology.

The Afghanistan Wrestling Federation views the course as an important step in its long-term development strategy. Dr. Yonus POPALZY, an Afghan NOC and Olympic Council of Asia member, was instrumental in the development, organization, and success of the course.

Participants highlighted the practical nature of the course and the opportunity to exchange ideas with coaches from different backgrounds.

"The course exceeded our expectations. The practical sessions and interactive teaching methods gave us new ideas that we can immediately apply in our daily coaching."