#WrestleBratislava

European Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (March 17) -- The European Championships will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia from April 7 to 13.

More than 450 wrestler will be in action in 30 weight classes in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

The Championships will be live on UWW+ which can be accessed on uww.org and UWW App. Follow United World Wrestling on Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook and TikTok.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change. For final entries, refer to arena.uww.org on the day of the competition.

Freestyle

57kg
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Rocco TERRANOVA (ITA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Nachyn MONGUSH (UWW)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Robert MESZAROS (SVK)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Carlos ALVAREZ IGLESIAS (ESP)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Zoltan MIZSEI (HUN)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Sergiu LUPASCO (MDA)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Cabbar DUYUM (TUR)
Andrii SVYRYD (UKR)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
George KOLIEV (UWW)
David BAEV (UWW)

74kg
Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
Yahor AKULICH (UWW)
Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW)

79kg
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
Jacopo MASOTTI (ITA)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)

86kg
Lukas LINS (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Rolan ARNTASEV ARDASHEV (GRE)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Kornelijus STULGINSKAS (LTU)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)
Artur NAIFONOV (UWW)

92kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Rahmatullah MORADI (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Azamat ZAKUEV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Gurgen SIMONYAN (ARM)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Nikolaos KARAVANOS (GRE)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
Vasyl SOVA (UKR)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Georgios KOTANIDIS (GRE)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (UWW)

Buse TOSUN (TUR)Buse TOSUN (TUR), Paris bronze medalist at 68kg and returning champion, will be in action after eight months. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Ana TORRES (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (UWW)

53kg
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Reka HEGEDUS (SVK)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
Viyaleta REBIKAVA CHYRYK (UWW)

55kg
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Aliaksandra BULAVA (UWW)
Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Graciela SANCHEZ DIAZ (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (UWW)

59kg
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Anna MICHALCOVA (CZE)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Lara GORCS (SVK)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Alesia HETMANAVA (UWW)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW)

62kg
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Luisa NIEMESCH (GER)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Ineta DANTAITE (LTU)
Nina BODISTEANU (MDA)
Alicja NOWOSAD (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Sara LINDBORG (SWE)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

65kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Marta OJEDA NAVARRO (ESP)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Viktoria FOELDESIOVA (SVK)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Krystsina SAZYKINA (UWW)
Dinara KUDAEVA (UWW)

68kg
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Nerea PAMPIN BLANCO (ESP)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Michaela SEBOEKOVA (SVK)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW)

72kg
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Emilia CRECIUN (MDA)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Elvira ERSSON (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)
Kseniia BURAKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW)

Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)Four-time Olympic medalist Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) is going for his eighth European Championships title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Arnold MEGALY (SVK)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)

60kg
Karapet MANVELYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Nedyalko PETROV (BUL)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)

63kg
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Andrii SEMENCHUK (UKR)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (UWW)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ruslan BICHURIN (UWW)

72kg
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Jakub SIMCIK (CZE)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Henrik DAHLEN (SWE)
Mehmet SAHIN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Alen MIRZOIAN (UWW)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Georgios SOTIRIADIS (GRE)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Oliver OLAH (SVK)
Per OLOFSSON (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Maksim SHEDZ (UWW)
Sergei STEPANOV (UWW)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Artem SHAPOVALOV (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Ilya BITSEYEU (UWW)
Islam ALIEV (UWW)

87kg
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Norbert SIPKA (SVK)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)

97kg
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Alex KESSIDIS (SWE)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)
Serhii OMELIN (UKR)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)

130kg
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Konsta MAEENPAEAE (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Dzmitry ZARUBSKI (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)

#WrestleTirana

Japan adds 3 golds to maintain perfect record in Tirana

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 28) -- Ami ISHII (JPN) can't stop winning in Tirana.

Four months after she won the U23 and Senior World Championships in the Albanian capital, Ishii has begun her 2025 with a Ranking Series gold in Tirana on Friday.

While she won the World Championships at 72kg, Ishii returned to the Olympic weight class 68kg as she leaves memories of missing out on Paris Olympics behind.

"It [Tirana] is a luck city," Ishii said. "Also, 68kg is home for me."

 Ishii is now 12-0 in Tirana, winning golds at the U23 World Championships, senior World Championships and Muhamet Malo Ranking Series -- scoring six technical superiority wins and three pins.

Her gold medal was one of three that Japan won, maintaining its perfect record in Women's Wrestling in Tirana, adding to the two it won on Thursday. Out of the six golds on offer so far, Japan has won five with one -- 62kg -- going to China. Japan did not enter a wrestler in 62kg.

Ishii won the gold medal at 68kg after U20 world champion Sakura ONISHI (JPN) made a golden senior debut at 59kg. Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) was successful at 65kg. On Thursday, Umi ITO (JPN) won at 50kg while Haruna MAYUMARA (JPN) won gold at 55kg.

Ami ISHII (JPN)Ami ISHII (JPN) won the 68kg gold medal in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ishii looked in sublime form at 68kg and seemed like she would go unscathed, however, Zelu LI (CHN) checked her in the final. Ishii managed to win 6-2 but could feel the pressure of the final.

"I think the opponent's level is quite high since it's in the finals," Ishii said. "The pressure is the most fun in the finals. There shouldn't be any pressure, but it was a close match so I'll practice a little more."

She opened the scoring with a double-leg takedown and kept aiming for Li's ankles, converting once such attempt to a takedown. Li tried to counter lift but Ishii was solid in her defense and led 4-0 at the break. Li did cut the lead to 4-2 in the second period but Ishii made it 6-2 with a similar takedown like the previous ones.

"My wrestling is different, and I keep updating my wrestling every day," she said. "My wrestling is completely different from the last time I came to Tirana. Wrestling Japanese, I continue to improve my skills."

After missing out on the Paris Olympics, losing in the domestic playoff to Nonoka OZAKI (JPN), Ishii remains motivated to be at the Olympic cycle.

"My goal for 2025 is to win the 68kg class at the World Championships," she said. "My biggest goal for 2025 is probably to win a gold medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics."

Sakura ONISHI (JPN)Sakura ONISHI (JPN) defeated Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW) 10-0 in the 59kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Onishi was the first to secure gold medal of the night for Japan as she dominated the 59kg weight class. In the final against Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW), Onishi scored the first takedown with a single-leg attack and gut wrenched for two more points. She added another takedown with head outside before finishing the bout 10-0 with 4:16 remaining on the clock.

This was the first senior tournament for the teenager but remained unfazed the stage and the opponents.

"It was my first tournament and I was a bit nervous," Onishi said. "But since I had earned the right to compete at the All-Japan Championship in Japan, I decided to represent Japan and not worry about my age."

Before travelling to Tirana, Onishi was in a two-week training camp in China alongwith Morikawa. Both went to Kunming, world champion Jia LONG's(CHN) hometown, to train in different styles.

Previously, Onishi would finish her bouts in typical Japanese style of pins or leg lace but she used the gut-wrench effectively in Tirana. Onishi said she picked the technique in China.

"The lace is something I always do," she said. "I don't really pay attention to it but that gut wrench is a technique I learned the other day when I went on a two-week camp to China, and I was happy."

In the four bouts on Friday, Onishi, a training partner of Olympic champion Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) at the Nippon Sports Science University, outscored her opponents 45-3 and geared up for the Asian Championships.

"I think it was a really good tournament because I was able to see how much I've improved, even if just a little, in what I practice every day," she said.

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) tries to turn Irina RINGACI (JPN) before Ringaci pulled out of the final citing knee injury. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) added another gold but she would have liked to avenge her round-robin loss to Irina RINGACI (MDA) in a better way. Ringaci pulled out injured midway through the final while leading 6-3. Morikawa had just scored a takedown when Ringaci left the match due to a injured knee. Ringaci had shown excellent movements till then, hitting double-leg attacks and gut wrenches to which Morikawa had no answers.

The two had met earlier in Round 1 bout of their group which Ringaci won 6-5 despite a solid comeback from Morikawa. This was their second meeting since the 2021 World Championships final which Ringaci won. 

Ringaci scored a takedown and turn to lead 4-0 and then a scramble resulted in Ringaci landing on top to take the lead 6-0. Morikawa was on board when she scored an exposure and another leg elevation forced a takedown which made the score 6-4 for Ringaci with 17 seconds left. A double leg from Morikawa resulted in just a stepout with six seconds on the clock. Japan challenged that call asking for two points but Morikawa had no control over Ringaci during stepout. Ringaci defended the 7-5 lead to win the bout.

LILI (CHN)LILI (CHN) defeated Paris Olympic bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR) in 62kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

At 62kg, world bronze medalist LILI (CHN) completed a commanding performance in Tirana with a gold medal at 62kg, beating former world champion Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) 8-4 in the final after she had defeated Paris Olympic bronze medalist Grace BULLEN (NOR) in the semifinals.

Bullen was on her way to the final when she ran into Lili in the semis and was involved in a tense match which she led. She opened the scoring with a takedown and turn before Lili scored a reversal and lace. The Chinese added another takedown and turn to make it 7-4. Bullen closed the gap to 7-5 with a stepout but she failed to break the defense and lost 8-3.

In the final, Lili raced to an 8-0 lead over Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) and it seemed like she will close out the bout soon. However, Dudova hit a double-leg attack to get four points back. But Lili still managed to keep the lead with herself and defeated to claim the gold medal at 62kg.

RESULTS

59kg
GOLD: Sakura ONISHI (JPN) df. Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (UWW), 10-0

BRONZE: Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR) df. Bediha GUN (TUR), 12-2

62kg
GOLD: LILI (CHN) df. Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL), 8-4

BRONZE: Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA) df. Anne NUERNBERGER (GER), 11-0 
BRONZE: Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Amina TANDELOVA (UWW), via inj. def.

65kg
GOLD: Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) df. Irina RINGACI (MDA), via inj. (3-6)

BRONZE: Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) df. Aleah NICKEL (CAN), 10-0

68kg
GOLD: Ami ISHII (JPN) df. Zelu LI (CHN), 6-2 

BRONZE: Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (UWW) df. Noémi SZABADOS (HUN), via inj. def.
BRONZE: Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) df. Gerda BARTH (GER), via fall (6-0)