#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.

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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.

More than 1000 Wrestlers in Saudi Arabia's Biggest Competition

By United World Wrestling Press

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."