#WrestleAlexandria

Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series day three finals set

By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (February 25) -- Six women's wrestling and two freestyle weight classes highlight day three of the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series event in Alexandria. The previous two days have been nothing short of exceptional and expect nothing else on Saturday.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER

Here are the gold medal match-ups for the evening session

50kg
Meng FAN (CHN) vs. Ziqi FENG (CHN)

53kg
Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) vs. Li DENG (CHN)

55kg
Bediha GUN (TUR) vs. Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

59kg
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) vs. Yuliia TKACH (UKR)

65kg Round 5
Khadija JLASSI (TUN) vs. Emma BRUNTIL (USA)
BHATERI (IND) vs. Ayatalla AHMED (EGY)

72kg
Alina RUDNYTSKA (UKR) vs. Dalma CANEVA (ITA)  

FS 97kg
Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) vs. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)

125kg
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL) vs. Taha AKGUL (TUR) 

14:05: Li DENG (CHN) and Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN) exchanged passivity points in their 53kg semifinal. Deng got the passivity point in the second period and kept that advantage to win 1-1 on criteria.

13:45: Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA) avenges her World Championships loss to Mengyu XIE (CHN). Winchester led 12-6 in Belgrade when she suffered an injury and lost to Xie. But in Alexandria, she controls the bout for a 4-0 win.

13:35: Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) gets the job done! She led 2-0 and then controlled the whole second period against Andreea ANA (ROU) to win the semifinal at 53kg.

13:30: Taha AKGUL (TUR) navigates through Nicholas GWIAZDOWSKI (USA). A good win there for the world champion. Gwiazdowski has troubled Akgul in the past but today the story was different. Akgul wins 7-2

13:15: Two big results at 97kg. Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL) proved that the 97kg weight class is not for Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) who has been a force at 92kg. However, Firouzpour at 97kg failed to match the strength and conditioning of Baranowski who wins 6-4.

World silver medalist Batyrbek TCAKULOV (SVK) struggled a little but managed to beat Benjamin HONIS (ITA) 11-3 to advance.

13:00: Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) and Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN) should have been a final but we have it in the quarters. Orshush put on the clock but she gets a low single to score a takedown before adding leg lace to lead 6-0. Malmgren tries the toss but fails and Orshush adds gut wrench to win 10-0. Sweden has challenged the call. No points for Malmgren as the challenge is lost. Orshush wins 11-0

12:30: Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) gets a taste of his own medicine as Vladislav BAITCAEV (HUN) scores a takedown with a second left on the clock. Baitcaev wins 6-4 to advance at 97kg.

12:10: Iulia LEORDA (MDA) can't believe she has given up a takedown at the last moment. She led 2-2 against Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN) but could not handle the pressure Orshush was putting on her. The Hungarian wins 4-2

11:52: Taha AKGUL (TUR) with another easy win. He leg laces DINESH (IND) for an 11-0 victory at 125kg.

11:45: World champion Dom PARRISH (USA) is wrestling European champion Jonna MALMGREN (SWE) at 53kg. The Swede has the first takedown and she will go into the break leading 2-0. Parrish scores two out of bounds and takes the criteria lead. A quick double-leg from Malmgren and she retakes the lead 4-2. Solid underhook defense from Malmgren and she wins 4-2.

11:15: Ziqi FENG (CHN) and Oksana LIVACH (UKR) went allout in that 50kg bout. Livach with two takedowns to lead 4-0 but Feng then got the head pinch. She exposed Livach twice before launching her for a four. A takedown and gut gave Feng a 15-4 technical superiority win.

11:00: Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) is the latest to score a 10-0 win. She rolls over Farah HUSSEIN (EGY) with ease to move at 59kg.

10:50: Madison PARKS (CAN) is an underrated wrestler. She has now racked up so many good wins. Include the latest one as she beats Emilia VUC (ROU) 9-3 at 50kg.

10:30: Taha AKGUL (TUR) is such a calm wrestler. There are no signs of panic in his body language. In his first bout of the day, he casually moves past Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) at 125kg.

10:15: European champion Tatiana RIZKHO (UKR) with some early action in Alexandria. She hits a foot sweep and scores a fall over BHATERI (IND) to win at 65kg. 

10:00: Welcome to yet another exciting day of wrestling in the historical city of Alexandria. We are done with Greco-Roman and it will be all about women's wrestling and freestyle today.

Development

Successful Level 1 Coaching Course held in Bulgaria

By United World Wrestling Press

PAZARDZHIK, Bulgaria (November 6) – The Bulgarian Wrestling Federation organized a Level 1 Coaching course to help improve and provide training for their coaches.  This 5-day course was held in conjunction with Olympic Solidarity, Bulgarian Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling. 

The Level 1 course was led by UWW Certified Educator Mr. Georgi Sredkov (BUL).

The course was held from 15-20 October and was attended by 40 coaches and 6 athletes. “I point to my many years of experience to emphasize that, from a professional point of view, the seminar held by G. Sredkov was indeed at a very high professional level, with enormous benefit for all participants and especially for young coaches. The selection of the topics and issues in the sport of wrestling, the arrangement of the topics and the inclusion of free discussions submitted by the participants, greatly increases the quality and effect of this seminar.” said Mr. Georgi Kalchev (European Champion and World Medalist). 

This course focuses on the foundational skills to be a great coach.  The topics included: key factor analysis, introducing new techniques, communication skills, improving coaching skills, risk management and safety, and athlete safeguarding.  The participants learned and practiced their skills through theoretical and practical evaluations throughout the course. “Thanks to Georgi Sredkov for the seminar. Everything he offered us in the seminar was completely useful and beneficial.” said Emil Budinov (Olympic Coach).

Additional Comments from Participants

My participation was extremely useful for me as a coach. We exchanged experiences and I learned new practices with which I can upgrade my coaching activity.” – Miroslav Geshev (European Medalist and National Coach)

“I am personally very pleased that I had the opportunity to attend this seminar. I managed to learn many interesting things that will be useful for the development of our wrestling.” – Georgi Dumkov (Club Coach)

“Thanks for the fruitful seminar, especially the way of presentation. Special thanks to Georgi Sredkov - 5-day seminar full of content, excellently structured - balance between theory and practice.” – Vasil Popov (European Champion)