#UWWAwards

Deng and Olli Among History Makers of the Year Recipients

Sunday, December 16, 2018 - 15:38 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 15) -- United World Wrestling has named China’s DENG Zhiwei, Finland’s Petra OLLI, and Russia’s Greco-Roman world team the History Makers of the Year award.

Deng Zhiwei captured a silver medal at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary and became China’s first-ever freestyle world medalist. Prior to the 2018 World Championships, China had reached the bronze medal match four times and failed to win a bronze in each of those four matches.

Deng’s road to finals was sparked by a 4-1 opening round victory over Canada’s 2014 junior world champion, Amarveer DHESI. In the quarterfinals, the Chinese big-man outlasted defending world bronze medalist, Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA), 5-4. In the semifinals, Deng rolled pasted India’s Sumit SUMIT, 5-0, securing his spot in the Chinese wrestling record books.

After his semifinals win over Sumit, Deng said, “I’m always having dreams about wrestling, and I’ve dedicated my life to the sport for the past 16 years…Now I get to bring honor to my country.”

Deng ultimately fell short in the finals, dropping the 125kg gold-medal bout to Georgia’s two-time world champion, Geno PETRIASHVILI.

In women’s wrestling, Petra OLLI (FIN) improved on her 2015 World Championships silver medal finish when she avenged her Poland Open finals loss and hung on to beat Canada’s Danielle LAPPAGE, 6-5. Olli’s final win at 65kg granted Finland their first-ever women’s wrestling gold medal and first world title since Marko YLI-HANNUKSELA (FIN) won Greco-Roman gold at the 1997 Wroclaw, Poland World Championships.

In addition to her gold medal at the World Championships, Olli also won titles at the Klippan Lady Open, the International Ukrainian Tournament, and the European Championships.

In Greco-Roman, Russia made history by winning six of ten possible gold medals. Russia’s 2018 Greco-Roman team outdid their fellow countrymen who set the gold medal record when they won five world titles in 1994. The six Russian wrestlers who won gold medals in Budapest were Sergey EMELIN (60kg), Stepan MARYANYAN (63kg), Artem SURKOV (67kg), Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (77kg), Musa EVLOEV (97kg), and Sergey SEMENOV (125kg).

The Russian Federation finished the 2018 World Championships with a record of 37-6. Of those six Russian defeats, their opponents went on to win two golds and four bronze medals.

The next award to be released is the Biggest Rivalries of the Year award. That'll come out on Wednesday. 
 

#WrestleTirana

Salkazanov Reclaims 74kg Gold for Fifth European Title

Sunday, April 26, 2026 - 23:07 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (April 26) -- A smile beamed across Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV's (SVK) face as he stood atop the medal podium, receiving the gold medal after winning the 74kg title at the European Championships in Tirana, Albania.

Salkazanov won his fifth European title, regaining the crown after losing it to Chermen VALIEV (ALB) last year. Valiev, who is recovering from a knee surgery, was in the stands at the Feti Borova Olympic Park Arena as the Slovak wrestler returned to the top.

"It’s very satisfying to see that my hard work has paid off," Salkazanov said. "I’m particularly pleased today, because it’s been over two years since my country’s national anthem was played in my honor. So I’m glad that it worked out. That’s exactly why I was so happy on the podium."

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Salkazanov had a four-year golden run winning titles in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 before losing to Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW) last year. Sidakov would later lose to Valiev in the 74kg final.

Since neither of Sidakov or Valiev were entered, Salkazanov faced Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) in the final and in typical Salkazanov fashion bullied Bayramov with his defense. However, it was Bayramov who was put on the activity clock in the first period. Salkazanov went 1-0 up at the break.

In the second period, he scored two stepouts to extend his lead to 3-0 before Bayramov pushed the pace of the bout as he needed at least three points for a win. Bayramov's attack paid off in the final 10 seconds of the match when he scored a takedown to make it 3-2 but Salkazanov showed presence of mind and moved close to the edge of the mat to not give up any more points.

As time ran out, Bayramov thought he managed to score a point for Salkazanov's hand touching outside the zone. As it was not scored, he challenged only to see it lost and adding one more point to Salkazanov's score, making him a 4-2 winner.

Despite being a four-time champion before, Salkazanov said he was more confident this year and had not done anything to win the gold medal.

"I can’t say I’ve worked on anything in particular," he said. "The main thing is that I’ve gained more confidence over time, and perhaps a bit more experience."

Azerbaijan suffered another heartbreak on Sunday as world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) dropped a close 86kg final to Ibragim KADIEV (UWW). The two did not score any action points and exchanged activity clock points.

Kadiev got the one point in the second period to hold a 1-1 criteria lead which he defended till the end. Dzhioev tried scoring a takedown in the final 10 seconds and almost got it but Kadiev was firm in his defense. Azerbaijan challenged asking for a point but Dzhioev neither had control over Kadiev nor he pushed him out.

The lost challenge added one point to Kadiev's score to give him a 2-1 win, making him the European champion at 86kg in his first attempt.

Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) defended his 125kg title in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Azerbaijan Wins Team Title

Despite the two losses in Sunday's finals, Azerbaijan won the team title as it did in Greco-Roman on Wednesday. With three golds, a silver, one bronze and all but one wrestlers contributing to team points, Azerbaijan won the team title with 152 points. Georgia finished second with 94 points and Armenia was third with 73 points.

Azerbaijan also crowned two European champions on the final day of the European Championships as defending champion Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) retained his 125kg title while Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) won the 92kg gold medal.

Meshvildishvili, who had a close final last year, did not let Vladislav BAJCAJEV (HUN) challenge him this year. Bajcajev was put on the activity clock twice in the match and Meshvildishvili scored three go-behind takedowns to win the final 8-0.

Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) celebrates after beating Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) in the 92kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Tcokaev's gold medal at 92kg came at the expense of Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) after the two gave no space to each other. Bataev got on board first with a stepout despite the move being initiated by Tcokaev. However, the Bulgaria wrestler was put on the activity clock and Tcokaev scored a stepout before the clock expired, which gave him a 2-1 lead over Bataev.

Using the underhook, Tcokaev scored another stepout to start the second period, extending his lead to 3-1. His third stepout made it 4-1 despite Bataev's resistance. Just when it looked like that Tcokaev will have no trouble till the clock expires, Bataev managed to score a takedown in the final 15 seconds to cut the lead to 4-3.

However, Bataev could not find the match-winning point and his desperate challenge was lost as well, giving a 5-3 win to Tcokaev.

At 61kg, Zavur UGUEV (UWW) defended his 61kg gold medal with rather ease and became a two-time European champion. He defeated former world champion and home-favorite Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), 4-0, in the final.

Photo

RESULTS

61kg
GOLD: Zavur UGUEV (UWW) df. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), 4-0

BRONZE: Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) df. Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW), 7-3
BRONZE: Simone PIRODDU (ITA) df. Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE), via fall (11-8)

74kg
GOLD: Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) df. Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE), 4-2

BRONZE: Timur BIZHOEV (UWW) df. Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN), 2-1
BRONZE: Farhad NOURIKHORJESTAN (UWW) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 10-8

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (UWW) df. Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 2-1

BRONZE: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Osman GOCEN (TUR), 8-3
BRONZE: Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA) df. Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT), 7-2

92kg
GOLD: Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) df. Ahmed BATAEV (BUL), 5-3

BRONZE: Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR), 7-4
BRONZE: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) df. Samuel SCHERRER (SUI), 4-0

125kg
GOLD: Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) df. Vladislav BAJCAJEV (HUN), 8-0

BRONZE: Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) df. Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 6-2
BRONZE: Mohsen SIYAR (GER) df. Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE), 2-1