Egypt dominates GR, Nigeria shines in WW at African Championships

Monday, March 18, 2024 - 20:10 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 18) -- Led by world bronze medalist Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY) and U20 world champion Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY), Egypt produced a stunning performance at the African Championships, winning nine Greco-Roman gold medals in Alexandria.

In Women's Wrestling, Nigeria won four gold medals out of the five weight classes contested on Monday in Alexandria.

The nine golds helped Egypt win the Greco-Roman team title in front of the home crowd with 240 points. Algeria was second with 184 points and Tunisia finished third with 95 points.

Mohamed wrestled three matches in a Nelson bracket and won all three without surrendering a point. He defeated Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG), who later finished with a silver, 8-0 and Ahmed SEREHALI (MAR) 8-0. His final was against Brahim MALKI (TUN) who forfeited.

Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY) won the gold medal 67kg in Greco-Roman. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Alameldin was even better as he won three of the four bouts via technical superiority while one was a walkover for the U20 world champion. In his first bout, he Souhaib KHDAR (MAR) 8-0 followed by a 9-0 win over Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG) and 10-0 blanking of Sahid KARGBO (SLE).

Top seed Alameldin finished all his bouts well before regulation time. His first win, over Khdar, came in just 24 seconds.

At 60kg, Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) defeated youngster Mohamed DRIDI (ALG), 8-1, in the final. He scored a stepout and later got a throw from par terre to get four points and led 6-0 at the break.

Dridi failed to score any points from par terre in the second period. Mahmoud got a front headlock and threw Dridi which was scored four points. Algeria challenged the call and it was scored only two points. However, Mahmoud still had enough to win the gold medal 8-1. In their Round 3 match, Mahmoud had blanked Dridi 8-0.

Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) launches Shafaihuuna Benhard (NAM) for a big throw. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Mohamed KHALIL (EGY) won the gold medal at 77kg but did not have a smooth sailing. In his four bouts, Khalil dominated three while the one against Chawki DOULACHE (ALG) was a close contest.

The two met in Round 2 and the winner was most likely to win the gold medal. Khalil was called passive in the first period giving Doulache a 1-0 lead. But Khalil got the 1-1 criteria lead in the second period after Doulache was called passive. Both of them failed to score any action points but Khalil was the important win over Doulache to win the gold medal.

While Noureldin HASSAN (EGY) did not keep a clean sheet, he won the 87kg gold medal with four technical superiority wins in four bouts. Hassan did not face any real challenge from his opponents and only Haithem ISSAD (ALG) scored any points on Hassan.

In the Round 5 bout, Issad hit an arm throw and scored two points over Hassan. But that was all from Issad as Hassan dominated the bout from there and won 10-2.

The silver medal went to Roberto NSANGUA (ANG) who became the first wrestler from Angola to win silver at the African Championships. His only loss at the tournament was against Hassan.

At 97kg, Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY) won the gold medal after four wins. He was barely tested in his bouts apart from one against Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR) who had built a 3-0 lead at the break. He even defended well from par terre and did not give any points.

Abouelatta remained relentless in his attacks and after a failed front headlock attempt, he quickly moved behind Kouainso and hit a big throw for four points that gave him the 5-3 win.

Shaaban ABDELLATIF (EGY) won the gold medal at 55kg while Adham ELSAYED (EGY) won the gold medal at 63kg after Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG) pulled out of the final due to injury. The 82kg gold medal was captured by Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY).

72kg was the only weight in which Egypt did not win a gold medal as Emad GHALY (EGY) fell to Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG), 9-0, in the semifinals. Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN) then defeated Merabet in the final 5-1 to win the gold while Ghaly captured the bronze medal.

Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) won the 57kg gold without giving up a single point. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Nigeria shines

World bronze medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) began the season with gold medals at the African Championships as Nigeria dominated Women's Wrestling.

Five weight classes were on the mat on Monday and Nigeria won four gold medals. Apart from Adekuoroye and Oborududu, Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) won at 53kg and Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) won at 62kg.

Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) denied Nigeria a clean sweep as she defeated Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) 12-2 in the 76kg gold medal bout.

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Shaaban ABDELLATIF (EGY)
SILVER: Sefiane GUEZZANIA (ALG)
BRONZE: Bofenda KALUWEKO (ANG)

60kg
GOLD: Haithem MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Mohamed DRIDI (ALG), 8-1

BRONZE: Latuf MADI (COM) df. Given SIKHOSANA (RSA), via inj. def.

63kg
GOLD: Adham ELSAYED (EGY) df. Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG), via inj. def.

BRONZE: Romio GOLIATH (NAM) df. Mouad JAHID (MAR), 16-11

67kg
GOLD: Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
SILVER: Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG)
BRONZE: Sahid KARGBO (SLE)

72kg
GOLD: Radhwen TARHOUNI (TUN) df. Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG), 5-1

BRONZE: Emad GHALY (EGY) df. Anthony WESLEY (CPV), via fall (17-8)

77kg
GOLD: Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
SILVER: Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
BRONZE: Francisco KADIMA (ANG)

82kg
GOLD: Mahmoud IBRAHIM (EGY)
SILVER: Amar MOUMENE (ALG)
BRONZE: Belhasan AZAOUZI (TUN)

87kg
GOLD: Noureldin HASSAN (EGY)
SILVER: Roberto NSANGUA (ANG)
BRONZE: Hakim TRABELSI (TUN)

97kg
GOLD: Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
SILVER: Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN)
BRONZE: Wissam KOUAINSO (MAR)

130kg
GOLD: Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
SILVER: Hichem KOUCHIT (ALG)
BRONZE: Ahmed SEREHALI (MAR)

Women's Wrestling

53kg
GOLD: Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) df. Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 10-0

BRONZE: Nogona BAKAYOKO (CIV) df. Miriam NGOE WASE (CMR), 10-0
BRONZE: Hadir AHMED (EGY) df. Elisa RASOANANTENAINA (MAD), 4-0

57kg
GOLD: Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) df. Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG), via fall

BRONZE: Shaimaa ABDELZAHER (EGY) df. Natacha NABAINA (CMR), 10-0
BRONZE: Faten HAMMAMI (TUN) df. Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR), via fall

62kg
GOLD: Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) df. Farah HUSSEIN (EGY), 11-0

BRONZE: Minette KRUGER (RSA) df. Eunice MBURU (KEN), 2-0
BRONZE: Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG) df. Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI), via fall (8-6)

68kg
GOLD: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) df. Menatalla BADRAN (EGY), 13-2

BRONZE: Nour JELJELI (TUN) df. Blandine NGIRI (CMR), 8-2

76kg
GOLD: Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) df. Hannah RUEBEN (NGR), 12-2

BRONZE: Amy YOUIN (CIV) df. Pelagie WILITA (CMR), 6-4

#AmateurMMA

Amateur MMA: Kutzli wins gold for U.S.; Ukraine best team

Saturday, October 18, 2025 - 15:18 By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 19) -- It was only her fourth-ever bout but Natalie KUTZLI (USA) showed no lack of experience in defeating Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), and become a world champion at the UWW Amateur MMA World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Kutzli, the lone fighter from the United States, won by unanimous decision after three rounds against Stawska who has been on the circuit for a longder time.

"I'm just at a loss of words," Kutzli said. "I just feel so surreal."

In the final against Stawska, Kutzli opened the match with clear striking and controlled the round. She followed a similar strategy and never allowed Stawska to land cleanly. Kutzli won all three rounds in the final.

"She was a challenging fighter for sure," she said. "She was really tough. It's just such a amazing opportunity to be able to fight somebody who has that much experience. I loved every second of it."

Hailing from Michigan, Kutzli began her sports career with taekwondo before switching to wrestling. Her mother, Jeanie, would drive her from one practice to another and supported her when she switched sports.

"First person I talked to was my mom," she said. "She's just so proud of me and amazed by me and what I do and I just I made her proud and my family really proud. I do it for her in hopes of someday being in the UFC and be able to pay for my family and just be able to take care of my loved one, so that's my dream.

"From a young age, I was raised by a single mom. So I'm doing this for her and to be able to thank her and just sort of appreciation to my family."

At 57kg, Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) showed that she belongs to the big league she knocked out Justine TAILFER (FRA) in the 57kg final. The bout went to the second round but Dudakova dominated it throughout.

Dudakova and Tailfer went out of bounds in the second round with the former on top. The referee called it to center and when the bout restarted with Dudakova getting the back mount advantage, she kept her striking with Tailfer not able to defend which forced the referee to call it a knockout.

In other finals, Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) scored a victory via submission against Daria RAMANOVA (UWW) to win the gold medal at 50kg. However, two other Ukraine finalists failed to win.

Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) stormed back after a slow start to beat Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR) via split decision as two judges gave her the win to one who scored it in favor of Melnychuk as Sushina won the 61kg gold.

Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) did not give any chances to the judges to score differently as she defeated Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR) via unanimous decision to win at 65kg and bag the gold medal.

At 80kg, Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) had one of the most dominant wins in the final as she humbled Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), winning via unanimous decision, to claim the gold medal.

Kazakhstan also got a gold medal as Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) dominated the final against Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW) at 53kg to win via unanimous decision. Her strong start in the first two rounds gave her the advantage despite a strong show from Vykhvaten in the final round.

RESULTS

50kg Final
Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) df. Daria ROMANOVA (UWW), via submission

53kg Final
Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) df. Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW), via unanimous decision

57kg Final
Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) df. Justine TAILFER (FRA), via submission

61kg Final
Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) df. Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR), via split decision

65kg Final
Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) df. Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR), via unanimous decision

70kg Final
Natalie KUTZLI (USA) df. Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), via unanimous decision

80kg Final
Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) df. Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), via unanimous decision

Egypt dominates GR, Nigeria shines in WW at African Championships

Comments

Amateur MMA: Kutzli wins gold for U.S.; Ukraine best team