#WrestleBelgrade

Individual World Cup Entries

By Eric Olanowski

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 9) -- Abdulrashid "The Tank" SADULAEV (RUS), the four-time world champion and Rio Olympic gold medalist, headlines the entry list for the Individual World Cup (December 12-18) that will feature 505 wrestlers from 51 different countries.

Sadulaev is one of 31 returning world medalists -- including five world champions from 2019 -- who will take the mat in Serbia next week. Freestyle and Greco-Roman each include 11 medal winners from Nur-Sultan, while women's wrestling welcomes 9 from the last world championships.

World Medalist By Style
Freestyle: 3 gold, 2 silver and 6 bronze = 11
Greco-Roman: 1 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze = 11
Women's Wrestling: 1 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze = 9

Freestyle ('19 world champions listed in BOLD)

57kg
Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Uladzislau ANDREYEU (BLR)
Mikyay Salim NAIM (BUL)
Levan METREVELI VARTANOV (ESP)
Adam Visrailovitch BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Kumar RAVI (IND)
Rahman Mousa AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI)
Givi DAVIDOVI (ITA)
Bekbolot MYRZANAZAR UULU (KGZ)
Chakir ANSARI (MAR)
Anatolii BURUIAN (MDA)
Petru CRACIUN (MDA)
Minir REDJEPI (MKD)
Richard Antonio GARCIA ANDRADE (PAN)
Razvan Marian KOVACS (ROU)
Zavur UGUEV (RUS)
Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB)
Saban KIZILTAS (TUR)
Andrii YATSENKO (UKR)
Gamal Mohammed Yahya ALSABRI (YEM)

61kg
Abdelghani BENATALLAH (ALG)
Agustin Alejandro DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Razmik PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Akhmednabi GVARZATILOV (AZE)
Ayub Muratovitch MUSAEV (BEL)
Georgi Valentinov VANGELOV (BUL)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Georgios PILIDIS (GRE)
Richard VILHELM (HUN)
Rahul Balasaheb AWARE (IND)
Ulukbek ZHOLDOSHBEKOV (KGZ)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Eduard GRIGOREV (POL)
Ivan GUIDEA (ROU)
Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (RUS)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Muhamad IKROMOV (TJK)
Recep TOPAL (TUR)
Volodymyr BURUKOV (UKR)

65kg
Isa MERKJA (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Niurgun SKRIABIN (BLR)
Haji Mohamad ALI( BRN)
Vladimir Vladimirov DUBOV (BUL)
Juan Pablo GONZALEZ CRESPO (ESP)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
Mbunde CUMBA MBALI (GBS)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Amirmohammad Babak YAZDANICHERATI (IRI)
Abdellatif MANSOUR (ITA)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Andrei PERPELITA (MDA)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Elmedin SEJFULAU (MKD)
Sixto Miguel AUCCAPINA PEDRAGAS (PER)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Nikolai OKHLOPKOV (ROU)
Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS)
Ahmet DUMAN(TUR)
Gor OGANNESYAN(UKR)
Hussein Abdullah Hussein Abdullah AL AZZANI(YEM)

70kg
Eriglent PRIZRENI (ALB)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Gitinomagomed GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Dzianis SALAVEI (BLR)
Nicolae COJOCARU (GBR)
Shamil USTAEV (GER)
Daniel ANTAL (HUN)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Islambek OROZBEKOV (KGZ)
Mihail SAVA (MDA)
Valentin BORZIN (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI(MKD)
Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL)
George BUCUR (ROU)
Chermen VALIEV (RUS)
Daniel CHOMANIC (SVK)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Haithem DAKHLAOUI (TUN)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)

74kg
Orges LILA (ALB)
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
Azamat NURYKAU (BLR)
Ali Pasha Ruslanovich UMARPASHAEV (BUL)
Leon Juan Carlos PERALTA LANAS (CHI)
Jonatan ALVAREZ DIAZ (ESP)
Aimar ANDRUSE (EST)
Charles André AFA (FRA)
Augusto MIDANA (GBS)
Osman Kubilay CAKICI (GER)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Narsingh Pancham YADAV (IND)
Mitchell Louis FINESILVER (ISR)
Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA)
Saiakbai USUPOV (KGZ)
Mohammed J M Th A ABDULKAREEM (KUW)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Evgheni NEDEALCO (MDA)
Riad REDJEPI (MKD)
Andrzej Piotr SOKALSKI (POL)
Maxim VASILIOGLO (ROU)
Razambek ZHAMALOV (RUS)
Malik Michael AMINE (SMR)
Zaur EFENDIEV (SRB)
Marc DIETSCHE (SUI)
Tajmuraz Mairbekovic SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Denys PAVLOV (UKR)

79kg
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Rashad YUSIFLI (AZE)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (BLR)
Dzhemal Rushen ALI (BUL)
Erik REINBOK (EST)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Eduard TATARINOV (GER)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Baliyan GOURAV (IND)
Aron CANEVA (ITA)
Arsalan BUDAZHAPOV (KGZ)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Stanislav NOVAC (MDA)
Astrit ISMAILI (MKD)
Vasile Madalin MINZALA (ROU)
Akhmed USMANOV (RUS)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Ayoub BARRAJ (TUN)
Muhammet Nuri KOTANOGLU (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Rashid KURBANOV (UZB)
86kg
Hovhannes MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Rasul TSIKHAYEU (BLR)
Akhmed Adamovitch MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Bedopassa BUASSAT DJONDE (GBS)
Ahmed Ruslanovic DUDAROV (GER)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Roman MANITRA RAHARISON (MAD)
Rachid OURIBI (MAR)
Piotr IANULOV (MDA)
Stole EFTIMOV (MKD)
Pool Edinson AMBROCIO GREIFO (PER)
Zbigniew Mateusz BARANOWSKI (POL)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (RUS)
Myles Nazem AMINE (SMR)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Mraz DZHAFARIAN (UKR)

92kg
Gadzhimurad MAGOMEDSAIDOV(AZE)
Arkadzi PAHASIAN(BLR)
Alejandro CANADA PANCORBO(ESP)
Ilja MATUHIN(GER)
Georgii RUBAEV(MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI(MKD)
Mihai Nicolae PALAGHIA(ROU)
Alikhan ZHABRAILOV(RUS)
Strahinja DESPIC(SRB)
Samuel SCHERRER(SUI)
Erhan YAYLACI(TUR)
Vasyl SOVA(UKR)

97kg
Shamil ZUBAIROV (AZE)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (BLR)
Ahmed Sultanovich BATAEV (BUL)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Satywart KADIAN (IND)
Abraham de Jesus CONYEDO RUANO (ITA)
Edon SHALA (KOS)
Nicolai CEBAN (MDA)
Samhan JABRAILOV (MDA)
Magomedgadji Omardibirovich NUROV (MKD)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Michael MANEA (ROU)
Abdulrashid SADULAE V(RUS)
Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR)
Valerii ANDRIITSEV (UKR)

125kg
Paris KAREPI (ALB)
Catriel Pehuen MURIEL (ARG)
Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN (ARM)
Jamaladdin MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (BLR)
Islam Timurovich ADIZOV (BUL)
Amarveer DHESI (CAN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Sumit SUMIT (IND)
Aiaal LAZAREV (KGZ)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Egor OLAR (MDA)
Boban DANOV (MKD)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Shamil SHARIPOV (RUS)
Oktay GUNGOR (TUR)
Oleksandr KHOTSIANIVSKYI (UKR)


Roman VLASOV (RUS), a two-time Olympic champion, will wrestle at 77kg. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Greco-Roman ('19 world champion listed in BOLD)

55kg
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Rudik MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Nedyalko Petrov PETROV (BUL)
Fabian Bernhard SCHMITT (GER)
Arjun HALAKURKI (IND)
Balbai DORDOKOV (KGZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Andre Ricardo CARDOSO OLIVEIRA SILVA (POR)
Cristian Vasile VAGIUNIC (ROU)
Emin Narimanovitch SEFERSHAEV (RUS)
Sebastian KOLOMPAR(SRB)
Serif KILIC (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)

60kg
Abdennour LAOUNI (ALG)
Armen MELIKYAN (ARM)
Nihat Zahid MAMMADLI (AZE)
Maksim KAZHARSKI (BLR)
Tsvetan Metodiev SIRASHKI (BUL)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Gyanender GYANENDER (IND)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ)
Fouad FAJAR I(MAR)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Joao Marco BENAVIDES ROCHABRUN (PER)
Razvan ARNAUT(ROU)
Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS)
Kristian FRIS (SRB)
Ahmet UYAR (TUR)
Viktor PETRYK (UKR)

63kg
Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM)
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Soslan DAUROV (BLR)
Nikalas Petrov SULEV (BUL)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
Sachin RANA (IND)
Kaly SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Mohammad F Kh M J ALAJMI (KUW)
Mateusz Radoslaw SZEWCZUK (POL)
Julinho Benjamim CORREIA DJU (POR)
Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU)
Zhambolat LOKYAEV (RUS)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Abdurrahman ALTAN (TUR)
Oleksii MASYK (UKR)

67kg
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Islambek DADOV (AZE)
Konstantin Ivanovich STAS (BUL)
Cristobal Alonso TORRES NUNEZ (CHI)
Gagik Mishai SNJOYAN (FRA)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN)
Ashu ASHU (IND)
Ruben MARVICE (ITA)
Khalmurat IBRAGIMOV (KGZ)
Donior ISLAMOV (MDA)
Alex Salomon PINEDA MARIN (PAN)
Nilton Gonzalo Marcos SOTO GARCIA (PER)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
Nazir Rachidovitch ABDULLAEV (RUS)
Davor STEFANEK (SRB)
Atakan YUKSEL (TUR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)

72kg
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamed Hassan GHANEM (FRA)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Balint KORPAS I(HUN)
Aditya KUNDU (IND)
Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ)
Valentin PETI C(MDA)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Narek OGANIAN (RUS)
Mate NEMES (SRB)
Aleksandar MAKSIMOVIC (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Leos DRMOLA (SVK)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)

77kg
Abd Elkrim OUAKALI (ALG)
Karapet CHALYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Pavel LIAKH (BLR)
Rosian Ognyanov DERMANSKI (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Georgios PREVOLARAKIS (GRE)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Sajan SAJAN (IND)
Roman ZHERNOVETSKI (ISR)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Daniel CATARAGA (MDA)
Igor BESLEAGA (MDA)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Iwan NYLYPIUK (POL)
Ilie COJOCARI (ROU)
Roman VLASOV (RUS)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Denis HORVATH (SVK)
Furkan BAYRAK (TUR)
Yasaf ZEINALOV (UKR)

82kg
Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM)
Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)
Radzik KULIYEU (BLR)
Daniel Tihomirov ALEKSANDROV (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Oldrich VARGA (CZE)
Ranet KALJOLA (EST)
Roland SCHWARZ (GER)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Igor PETRISHIN (ISR)
Kairatbek TUGOLBAEV (KGZ)
Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Alvis Albino ALMENDRA JIMENEZ (PAN)
George Vlad MARIEA (ROU)
Milad Valerikovitch ALIRZAEV (RUS)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Salih AYDIN (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Artur SHAHINYAN (ARM)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR)
Yoan Danielov DIMITROV (BUL)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Kumar SUNIL (IND)
Hossein Ahmad NOURI (IRI)
Fabio PARISI (ITA)
Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS)
Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (SRB)
Dogan GOKTAS (TUR)
Semen NOVIKOV (UKR)
Luis Eduardo AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG)
Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM)
Aliaksandr HRABOVIK (BLR)
Kiril Milenov MILOV (BUL)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA)
Michail IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
Alex Gergo SZOKE (HUN)
Hardeep HARDEEP (IND)
Mohammadhadi Abdollah SARAVI (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Choucri ATAFI(MAR)
Musa EVLOEV (RUS)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Luillys Jose PEREZ MORA (VEN)

130kg
Hemza HALOUI (ALG)
David OVASAPYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Radoslav Plamenov GEORGIEV (BUL)
Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI)
Stepan DAVID (CZE)
Eduard POPP (GER)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Naveen NAVEEN (IND)
Rafal Andrzej KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Sergey SEMENOV (RUS)
Boban ZIVANOVIC (SRB)
Osman YILDIRIM (TUR)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)


Aisuulu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) is the lone returning world champion entered in women's wrestling. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Women's Wrestling ('19 world champion listed in BOLD)

50kg
Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)
Miglena Georgieva SELISHKA (BUL)
Julie Martine SABATIE (FRA)
Debora Valeria TURE (GBS)
Lisa ERSEL (GER)
Devi NIRMALA (IND)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Emilia CIRICU BUDEANU (MDA)
Gloria Estefanny ASCA VILCAPOMA (PER)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Emilia Alina VUC (ROU)
Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS)
Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)

53kg
Tatyana VARANSOVA (AZE)
Zalina SIDAKOVA (BLR)
Sezen Behchetova BELBEROVA (BUL)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Hilary Ysaline HONORINE (FRA)
Nina HEMMER (GER)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Thalia Jihann MALLQUI PECHE (PER)
Roksana Marta ZASINA (POL)
Andreea Beatrice ANA (ROU)
Anzhelika VETOSHKINA (RUS)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Khrystyna Zoryana DEMKO (UKR)

55kg
Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Pinki PINKI (IND)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Tetyana KIT (UKR)

57kg
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Evelina Georgieva NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Maria Victoria BAEZ DILONE (ESP)
Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA)
Laura MERTENS (GER)
Emese BARKA (HUN)
Anshu ANSHU (IND)
Arianna CARIERI (ITA)
Nuraida ANARKULOVA (KGZ)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Veronika CHUMIKOVA (RUS)
Mehlika OZTURK (TUR)
Antonyna KULAHINA (UKR)

59kg
Bilyana Zhivkova DUDOVA (BUL)
Sandra PARUSZEWSKI (GER)
Sarita SARITA (IND)
Mariana CHERDIVARA ESANU (MDA)
Magdalena Urszula GLODEK (POL)
Svetlana LIPATOVA (RUS)
Anna FABIAN (SRB)
Elif YANIK (TUR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (UKR)

62kg
Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Luisa Helga Gerda NIEMESCH (GER)
Anna Hella SZEL (HUN)
Sonam SONAM (IND)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU)
Liubov OVCHAROVA(RUS)
Cansu AKSOY (TUR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)

65kg
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Mimi Nikolova HRISTOVA (BUL)
Debora LAWNITZAK (GER)
Sakshi MALIK (IND)
Anastasija GRIGORJEVA (LAT)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS)
Asli DEMIR (TUR)
Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)

68kg
IrIna  Petrovna NETREBA (AZE)
Hanna SADCHANKA (BLR)
Sofiya Hristova GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Khanum VELIEVA (RUS)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR)

72kg
Gozal ZUTOVA (AZE)
Yuliana Vasileva YANEVA (BUL)
Koumba Selene Fanta LARROQUE (FRA)
Maria SELMAIER (GER)
Preet Kaur GURSHARAN (IND)
Yanet Ursula SOVERO NINO (PER)
Alexandra Nicoleta ANGHEL (ROU)
Evgeniia ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Buse TOSUN (TUR)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)

76kg
Sabira ALIYEVA (AZE)
Vasilisa MARZALIUK (BLR)
Mariya Gerginova ORYASHKOVA (BUL)
Erica Elizabeth WIEBE (CAN)
Pauline Denise LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER)
Zsanett NEMETH (HUN)
Kiran KIRAN (IND)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Catalina AXENTE (ROU)
Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS)
Yasemin ADAR (TUR)
Anastasiia OSNIACH SHUSTOVA (UKR)

*Please note that this list is an unoffical list and is subject to change.

#WrestleTirana

U23 Worlds: What to watch in Freestyle

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (October 19) -- The final World Championships of the season, the U23 edition, is here. Like every year, the U23 World Championships will throw in some memorable matches and records that the wrestling world cannot ignore.

The one in Tirana beginning next week will see close to 600 wrestlers and a few of wrestling's biggest stars will be on the mat. Here's what to follow in Freestyle

74kg

The U23 World Championships will kick off on October 23 and a few age-group world champions, wrestlers who have made their mark at the senior level and some strong youngsters will be on the mat on the first day itself.

As is the case in most World Championships, the 74kg weight class offers stiff competition. Defending champion Mohmmadsadegh FIROUZPOUR (IRI) is going to see former U20 world champs Keegan OTOOLE (USA) and Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) at 74kg.

Gadzhiev won the gold medal at 74kg in 2022 while Otoole is the U20 world champion at 74kg in 2021, a run that saw him pin three of his opponents.

Returning bronze medalist Vasile DIACON (MDA), U20 World bronze at 70kg Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR) and senior world fifth placer NAVEEN (UWW) are also in the field.

Iran's heavy stars

Last year, Iran captured four gold medals. Firouzpour at 74kg was joined by his brother Amirhossein at 92kg, Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI) won at 97kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) was the champion at 125kg.

Both Azarpira and Masoumi are returning and it would be surprising if they don't defend the gold medals in Tirana. Azarpira stepped in for an injured Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) at 92kg for the World Championships in Belgrade but lost to Zahid VALENCIA (USA). Back at 97kg, he is the wrestler to beat.

Masoumi continues his tremendous record in international wrestling, having not lost a single bout at the age-group level. To maintain that record and defend his title, he will have to go through Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN) who finished fifth in Belgrade and returning silver medalist Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO) who troubled Masoumi last year before running out of steam.

At 92kg, Iran is going with U20 world champion Mohammadmobin AZIMI (IRI). In Amman, he emerged as the champion after beating Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ) who has now won a world champion at 92kg at the senior level. Azimi won the U20 Asian Championships as well.

Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) will be the favorite at 65kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

New crop at 65kg

The U23 world champion in Pontevedra was Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM). He is now a world bronze medalist at the senior level and left the category at U23 level for a new star to rise. In fact, none of the four medalists from 2022 are returning.

That leaves two-time U20 world silver medalist Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE) as the favorite to win his first world title at any level. Bayramov has wrestled internationally only once since the 2022 U20 Worlds, finishing third at the Yasar Dogu.

Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ) will hope to win a U23 World Championships medal since that silver in 2019. He finished fifth last year and is still trying to find his footing at 65kg.

U20 world champion at 61kg Mohit KUMAR (UWW) will be at 65kg in Tirana and look to make his mark in a new weight class. Iran will send Mohammadali AMOUZAD (IRI), the twin brother of 2022 65kg world champion Rahman.

Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) is the defending champion and senior world silver medalist at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Other stars

Georgia will look to repeat last year's performance including the two gold medals as both Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO) and Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) are returning at 70kg and 79kg respectively.

At 79kg, Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE), Shoban YARI (IRI) and Sagar JAGLAN (UWW) will be waiting to upset Gamkrelidze who finished with a silver medal at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Aaron BROOKS (USA), deemed as the successor to world and Olympic champion David TAYLOR (USA) domestically, will be returning to the international scene in four years. He has a silver medal from the 2018 U20 Worlds but finished 17th a year later.

Defending champion at 86kg, Tatsuya SHIRAI (JPN) is also returning to become Japan's first two-time freestyle world champion at the U23 level.