#WrestleBaku

Five matches we need to see at the GR World Cup

Thursday, October 27, 2022 - 15:59 By Eric Olanowski

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BAKU, Azerbaijan (October 27) --- The Greco-Roman portion of the 2022 calendar comes to a close November 5-6 in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. The Greco-Roman World Cup entries feature a mixture of credentialed veterans who own a combined eight world titles and a youthful group of rising stars ready to make their mark on the senior level.

With the insane level of talent headed to Baku, there will be some great matches on the two-day slate. Some matches we’ve seen before, while others we’ll see for the first time. Here are five potential matchups we'd like to see at next weekend in Baku.

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5. 55kg - Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) vs. Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)

Azizli and Dad Marz head into Baku fresh off winning world titles.

Azizli was arguably the most dominant Greco-Roman wrestler at the World Championships in Belgrade. He added a second world title to his credentialed resume and further established himself as the weights top wrestler after outscoring his four opponents 34-0.

Dad Marz is two weeks removed from winning gold at the U23 World Championships, where he cruised past all four of his opponents en route to 55kg title.

Iran and Azerbaijan are in opposite groups. Depending on how the group stage plays out, this match will take place on November 6.

4. 77kg - Zoltan LEVAI (HUN/ All-World Team) vs. Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)

After facing devastating heartbreaks in Serbia, Levai and Suleymanov are poised to make some noise at the World Cup, and nothing would ease the pain of facing defeat more than picking up a win over a fellow world silver medalist.

These two met once before, and that was in the finals of the 2020 European Championships, where Suleymanov picked up the 3-1 win over Levai.

In addition to Levai having that European finals loss on his mind, he’ll also be thinking about his last loss, which came in Serbia. The Hungarian, who finished the season ranked third in the world, is fresh off punching his ticket to the world finals but he suffered an upsetting 8-0 first-period loss to Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ).

Meanwhile, Suleymanov, after reaching the 2021 world finals, lost to Idris Hanpasaevic IBAEV (GER) in their opening round meeting at the World Championships and failed to bring home a second consecutive world medal.

The All-World team Azerbaijan are in Group A. This match will take place during the third session on November 5 at 19:30 (local time).

3. 72kg - Mate NEMES (SRB) vs. Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)

This will be the first of two matchups between a Serbian reigning world champion and an Azerbaijani wrestler who is ranked No. 1 in the world. The second will be between 67kg, where Sebastian NAD (SRB) will take on Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE).

This would be the first meeting between Nemes and Ganizade.

In his last outing, Nemes shocked the world by pulling off the biggest upset of the ’22 season, taking out defending world and Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) to win the 67kg world gold on home soil.

Ganizade rounded out his 2022 season as the top-ranked wrestler in the world at 72kg. The 23-year-old fell to Ali ARSALAN (SRB) in the finals of the World Championships and settled for a silver medal. Outside of his Belgrade silver, Ganizdae also won a bronze medal at the European Championships and a silver medal at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event.

Serbia and Azerbaijan are both in Group A. This match will take place during the first session on November 5 at 10:00 (local time).

2. 67kg - Sebastian Nad vs. Hasrat Jafarov

This would be a matchup of the reigning world champion at 63kg and the top-ranked wrestler in the world at 67kg. It’ll also be a rematch from the bronze-medal bout from the 2022 European Championships.

Nad is coming off one of the most surprising world title runs in recent memory. The 25-year-old’s breakout performance in Belgrade was highlighted by wins over 2021 world runner-up Leri ABULADZE (GEO) and 2022 European silver medalist Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE).

But it seems that Nad’s days competiting down at 63kg were short lived. He was without question the biggest 63kg wrestler in Belgrade, and after struggling immensely to make weight in Serbia, he’s moving back up to his natural weight of 67kg, where he wrestled in all five senior competitions prior to the 2022 World Championships.

Jafarov, after going 11-2 on the season, heads into the World Cup as the top-ranked wrestler in the world at 67kg. The 20-year-old star won gold at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event and bronze medals at the World and European Championships.

In their last meeting at the 2022 European Championships, Jafarov defeated Nad for the European bronze medal and owns the upper hand coming into Baku.

Serbia and Azerbaijan are both in Group A. This match will take place during the first session on November 5 at 10:00 (local time).

1. 82kg - Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) vs. Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)

Fellow world champions Akbudak and Huseynov are ranked first and second in the world at 82kg, respectively, and could meet for a third time in their career.

Coming into Baku, they’ve split their pair of previous meetings.

Akbudak, the 2022 82kg world champion, opened up his ’22 campaign with three wins in Istanbul, but none bigger than his dominate 9-0 win over the Huseynov in the semifinals of the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series event.

Prior to that, Huseynov, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and ’21 world champion, edged his Turkish rival, 2-1, to claim the Oslo world title.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are in opposite groups. Depending on how the group stage plays out, this match would take place on November 6.

Catch all the action from Baku, live on the United World Wrestling app or on www.uww.org.

#WrestleTirana

U23 World Championships 2024: Best storylines in Tirana

Monday, October 14, 2024 - 11:45 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (October 14) -- The U23 World Championships will kick off in Tirana next Monday with 661 wrestlers participating. Not only some returning champions are entered, but a few Paris 2024 Olympic wrestlers are also participating in the October 21-27 tournament.

Iran, which missed the tournament last year, will hopefully be there for the U23 World Championships.

Here are a few top storylines to follow from Tirana

Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) is one of the favorites at 74kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Freestyle

- The 61kg defending champion Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN) will be the favorite for the gold medal. After winning the gold medal last year, Magomedov won the U23 European Championships this year. In the seven bouts in the two tournaments, Magomedov has won five bouts via technical superiorities. 

- Another returning champion is Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN), defending his 65kg gold medal. Last year, Ibragimov gave up only one point in the tournament over five bouts. He is likely to dominate this year too. However, former U20 world champion Mohit KUMAR (IND) will look to avenge the semifinal loss to Ibragimov. Kumar failed to medal and finished fifth.

Another U20 world champion coming to Tirana is Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB). After winning the gold medal in Sofia in 2022, Jalolov is still trying to return to the top. He also suffered a back injury and recovery has been a tough road for him. He tried qualifying for the Paris Olympics but failed to do so. Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ) and Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) will be in the medal run as well.

- Perhaps the most competitive category, the 74kg weight class will see Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE), Ali REZAEI (IRI), Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN), Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ) and Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA) among other stars. The last three U20 world champions are entered. Gadzhiev won the U20 gold in 2022, Mesenbrink in 2023 and Rezaei in 2024. Takahashi is the senior Asian champion and Toktomabetov is the U23 Asian champion.

- Unbeaten at the international level Ibragim KADIEV (AIN) will start as the favorite win the gold medal at 86kg. Kadiev has two U20 world titles, including the 2024 edition. Former U20 world champion Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA) will be hoping for a successful run at the U23 level. Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO), who won bronze last year and participated in the Paris Olympics is competing as well.

- Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) will be in Albania for his third U23 World Championships. He won bronze in 2021 and gold in 2022. He will be the favorite for the gold with Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN) offering competition. Malachdibirov won the gold medal at the U20 World Championships this year.

- 92kg world champion Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) continues his successful run at 97kg and will be competing for the U23 world title. He won the U20 World Championships gold in September and this will be his second U23 World Championships, having finishing fifth in 2022.

Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR), a former world silver medalist, will be returning to international after more than a year. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Women's Wrestling

- Defending champion at 50kg Umi ITO (JPN) will be in action after one year. Ito has been behind Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Remina YOSHIMOTO (JPN) domestically but has been a force at the international level. She is yet to lose a bout and has won U17, U20 and U23 world titles.

- The return of Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR) will be a big news in Tirana. She last competed at the European Championships in 2023 and finished second. However, she has been nursing an injury for the last one year. She competed at the Valamar Cup and won the gold medal. But she will be test in Tirana as Paris Olympian and European champion Emma MALMGREN (SWE) is also competing.

- Irina RINGACI (MDA) will look to defend the gold medal at 65kg. She will also look to put her disappointing campaign at the Paris Olympics where she finished 10th. This will be her fourth U23 World Championships, the first being in 2019. She has two bronze medals and one gold medal.

- Ami ISHII (JPN) will be hoping to win her second career world title. She won the U20 gold in 2022 but finished second at the senior level. She won the Paris Olympic quota for Japan but failed to win the playoff in Japan as Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) beat her. She will be competing at 68kg.

- Croatia's first-ever world champion in wrestling, Veronika VILK (CRO) will be competing at her first U23 World Championships. Volk created history in 2023 when she won the U17 World Championships gold medal, becoming first wrestling world champion in Croatian history.

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) defeated Riza KAYAALP (TUR) in June. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

- The only Paris Olympic medalist competing in Tirana is Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN). The bronze medalist at 87kg will be in Tirana hoping to win his first world title at any level. He will be in a strong field with U23 world champion at 82kg Aues GONIBOV (AIN) moving up to 87kg. Former U20 world champion Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM), Joju SAMADOV (AZE),  Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO), Yasin Ali YAZDI (IRI), Marcel STERKENBURG (NED) and Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) also competing.

- The 130kg weight class may throw some interesting competition. Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI), who defeated Riza KAYAALP (TUR) in Budapest in June, will be the favorite to win the gold medal. However, Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR), who defeated Hedayati in the 2022 U20 World Championships final, is also competing. Last year, Pavel HLINCHUK (AIN) won the gold medal at 97kg but is moving up to 130kg, a weight class he won a Paris Olympic quota as well. Muhammet BAKIR (TUR) will also be a big medal threat.