Beach wrestling

Georgia Shines in ‘Beach Wrestling World Series’; Qatar and 2020 Season on the Horizon

Friday, October 11, 2019 - 15:58 By United World Wrestling Press

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VEVEY, Switzerland (October 11) -- The 2019 Beach Wrestling World Series concluded last month in Zagreb with several of the world’s top beach grapplers wrestling for gold and securing top billing in the overall rankings.

Led by enigmatic Olympic bronze medalist Dato MARSAGISHVILI (90kg), Georgia captured a whopping three out of a possible four top place finishes in men’s beach wrestling.

Marsagishvili, Levan KELEKHSASHVILI (70kg), and Davit KHUTSISHVILI (80kg) earned the top ranking in their respective weight categories by winning each event they entered. Each of the three wrestlers claimed three gold medals in three attempts and scored 50,000 points.

Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE) finished No.1 at +90kg. The heavyweight wrestler competed in all four events, winning three gold medals and one silver to finish with 58,000 points.

Despite a runner-up finish in the rankings Semen RADULOV (UKR) wow'ed fans across the world with his big throws (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Two Ukrainian women, Kateryna MASHKEVYCH (50kg) and Anna MAZURKEVYCH (70kg), finished No. 1 in their respective weight categories. Both Mashkevych and Mazurkevych earned a pair of gold medals, competing in Odessa and Zagreb and finished with 40,000 points.

Camila FAMA TRISTAO (BRA) earned the No.1 ranking in the women's competition at 60kg after winning two gold medals and a silver medal in the World Series. Her golds came in Rio and Zagreb.

Aikaterini PITSIAVA (GRE) won three golds in three attempts and finished No.1 at +70kg.

Many of the top finishers, including Georgia’s World Series champions, will be in Doha October 15-16 to compete at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games.

The 2020 Beach Wrestling World Series will again consist of four stops, with dates and locations to be announced in the coming weeks. At a meeting last month in Nur-Sultan more than 30 national federations from across all continents attended an informational session to help answer questions about the growing style.

National federations or wrestlers interested in learning more details about the 2020 events are asked to reach out to sports@unitedworldwrestling.org.

2019 Beach Wresting World Series Results

Men

70kg

1. Levan KELEKHSASHVILI (GEO) 50,000

2. Semen RADULOV (UKR) 42,000

3. Michael PETERS (USA) 19,500

4. Miljan DUKANOVIC (SRB) 17,400

5. Luka MALOBABIC (CRO) 15,000

 

80kg

1. Davit KHUTSISHVILI (GEO) 50,000

2. Georgios KOULOUCHIDIS (GRE) 42,800

3. Aleksandar NIKOLIC (SRB) 19,500

4. Timotej TRBULIN (SLO) 17,400

5. Ibrahim YUSUBOV (AZE) 16,000

 

90kg

1. Dato MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) 50,000

2. Christos SAMARTSIDIS (GRE) 34,500

3. Strahinja DERMANOVIC (SRB) 19,500

4. Domenik ANDREIC (CRO) 17,400

5. Murat OZKAN (TUR) 13,000

 

+90kg

1. Oyan NAZARIANI (AZE) 58,000

2. Ioannis KARGIOTAKIS (GRE) 44,300

3. Mamuka KORDZAIA (GEO) 35,300

4. Sabolc HORVAT (SRB) 17,400

5. Dorde PESUT (SRB) 15,000

 

Women

 

50kg

1. Kateryna MASHKEVYCH (UKR) 40,000

2. Carmen GOMES TEIXEIRA VIEIRA (POR) 31,000

3. Kristal BETANZO (USA) 24,000

4. Kamila BARBOSA VITO DA SILVA (BRA) 18,000

5. Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU) 10,000

 

60kg

1. Camila FAMA TRISTAO (BRA) 48,000

2. Valeriia SEMONKINA ZLATOVA (UKR) 34,000

3. Isabel RODRIGUES (POR) 31,100

4. Pia KOCBEK (SLO) 17,400

5. Georgiana FILIP (ROU) 10,000

 

70kg

1. Anna MAZURKEVYCH (UKR) 40,000

2. Sonia PEREIRA BRAZIO (POR) 34,000

3. Diana BETANZO (USA) 24,000

4. Sara TRBULIN (SLO) 17,400

5. Adina Elena POPESCU (ROU) 10,000

 

+70kg

1. Aikaterini PITSIAVA (GRE) 50,000

2. Iryna PASICHNYK (UKR) 24,000

3. Aline DA SILVA FERREIRA (BRA) 10,000

4. Halyna KOVALSKA (UKR) 8,000

5. Aysegul OZBEGE (TUR) 8,000

More than 1000 Wrestlers in Saudi Arabia's Biggest Competition

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 - 16:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (February 24) -- Saudi Arabia organized its largest wrestling competition to date with more than 1000 wrestlers participating in the 10-day event.

The Saudi Wrestling Federation organized the event from February 8 to 17 with wrestling in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling. The age groups included U12, U17, U23 and senior level.

The tournament was also open to government and private clubs which surged the number of wrestlers participating. The clubs included wrestlers from different nationalities. According to the Saudi federation, 1,173 wrestlers participated with 1,034 male and 139 female wrestlers.

Over the 10 days, 1,491 matches were conducted using the official UWW Arena competition management system to ensure professional organization, transparency, and technical accuracy.

"The number of registered wrestlers in the Kingdom has doubled in recent years," Sherif HALAWA, UWW Certified Educator & Head of Sports Performance of the Saudi Wrestling Federation, said. "This development has already produced historic achievements, including Saudi Arabia’s first-ever Asian silver medal at the U20 Asian Championships."

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, which termed the event as National Championships, has made steady success recently. It has also managed to grow wrestling at grassroots, women’s participation, referee development, and high-performance pathways.

"The technical level of Saudi wrestlers has improved significantly in recent years," Yusup ABDULSALAMOV, Senior Manager of High Performance at the Saudi Olympic Training Center, said. "There are promising talents capable of achieving strong international results in the near future. Saudi wrestling is clearly on the right path."