World Rankings

Kayaalp Moves to No.1 in World Greco-Roman Rankings, 3 New No. 1s

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (Aug. 2) -- Three-time world champion Riza KAYAALP (TUR) moved to No.1 at 130kg after claiming a gold medal in the final Ranking Series event for Greco-Roman wrestling. 

Kayaalp, who climbed from No.5 in the rankings last month, won a gold medal at the Vehbi Emre with a 2-1 victory over Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA (BLR). It was Kayaalp's sixth Vehbi Emre title. Earlier this year he won his eighth European title.

Kayaalp was one of three new No. 1-ranked wrestlers in Greco-Roman. The other two wrestlers to move up to No. 1 in Greco-Roman were Kazbek KILOV (BLR) at 77kg and Islam ABBASOV (AZE) at 87kg.

Kilov is coming off a silver-medal performance at the Vehbi Emre. He was a gold medalist at the Grand Prix of Zagreb earlier this year. Abbasov, like Kilov, won a silver medal at the Vehbi Emre. He has had strong results this year, winning a bronze at the World Military Championships and a gold at the U23 European Championships. 

Hungary, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey have multiple top-ranked wrestlers.

Balint KORPASI (Photo/Richard: Immel)

Hungary's No. 1-ranked wrestlers are Balint KORPASI (72kg) and Balazs KISS (97kg).

Korpasi, a 2016 world champion, won gold medals at the Grand Prix of Hungary and Cerro Pelado International, and a bronze medal at the European Championships. 

Kiss, a returning world bronze medalist, won a gold medal at the Grand Prix of Hungary after picking up a bronze at the European Championships in late April. 

Kyrgyzstan wrestlers K. ZHOLCHUBEKOV (60kg) and U. AMATOV (63kg) held their top ranking.  

Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (Photo: Martin Gabor)

Zholchubekov won gold medals at the Grand Prix of Hungary and Takhti Cup, and finished as a bronze medalist at the Asian Championships. Amatov has earned medals at the Takhti Cup (bronze), Asian Championships (silver) and Grand Prix of Hungary (bronze).

Other wrestlers to hold their top ranking in Greco-Roman include Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) at 55kg, Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) at 67kg and Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) at 82kg.

For more on the Ranking Series format, be sure to check out this article

View all the rankings on United World Wrestling's homepage.

55kg
1. Ekrem OZTURK (TUR) // 43 Points
2. Khorlan ZHAKANSHA (KAZ) // 39 Points
3. Shota TANOKURA (JPN) // 33 Points
4. Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) // 27 Points
5. Reza Kheirollah KHEDRI (IRI) // 24 Points

60kg
1. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) // 50 Points
2. Luis Alberto ORTA SANCHEZ (CUB) // 35 Points
3. Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ) // 29 Points
4. Sergey EMELIN (RUS) // 27 Points
5. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) // 25 Points

63kg
1. Urmatbek AMATOV (KGZ) // 41 Points
2. Hassan Hassan Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY) // 29 Points
3. Kaly SULAIMANOV (KGZ) // 28 Points
4. Mihai Radu MIHUT (ROU) // 28 Points
5. Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR) // 26 Points

67kg
1. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) // 52 Points
2. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) // 47 Points
3. Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (JPN) // 36 Points
4. Murat FIRAT (TUR) // 32 Points
5. Artem SURKOV (RUS) // 32 Points

72kg
1. Balint KORPASI (HUN) // 57 Points
2. Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) // 49 Points
3. Adam KURAK (RUS) // 33 Points
4. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) // 31 Points
5. Murat DAG (TUR) // 30 Points

77kg
1. Kazbek KILOV (BLR) // 39 Points
2. Mohammadali Abdolhamid GERAEI (IRI) // 38 Points
3. Ariel FIS BATISTA (CUB) // 34 Points
4. Roman VLASOV (RUS) // 34 Points
5. Viktor NEMES (SRB) // 32 Points

82kg
1. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) // 51 Points
2. Atabek AZISBEKOV (KGZ) // 41 Points
3. Viktar SASUNOUSKI (BLR) // 40 Points
4. Emrah KUS (TUR) // 32 Points
5. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) // 31 Points

87kg
1. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) // 45 Points
2. Khussein MUTSOLGOV (KAZ) // 37 Points
3. Masato SUMI (JPN) // 36 Points
4. Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) // 33 Points
5. Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS) // 31 Points

97kg
1. Balazs KISS (HUN) // 44 Points
2. Orkhan NURIYEV (AZE) // 42 Points
3. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) // 38 Points
4. Luillys Jose PEREZ MORA (VEN) // 34 Points
5. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) // 33 Points

130kg
1. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) // 45 Points
2. Balint LAM (HUN) // 42 Points
3. Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) // 40 Points
4. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) // 36 Points
5. Behnam Aliakbar MEHDIZADEH ARPATAPEH (IRI) // 34 Points
 

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW President Lalovic meets Azerbaijan Economic Minister, federation President Jabbarov

By United World Wrestling Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (December 12) -- United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC met with Economic Minister of Azerbaijan Mikayil JABBAROV, who is also the President of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation, in Baku on Wednesday.

They were accompanied by Namik ALIYEV, UWW Bureau Member and Gordon TEMPLEMAN, Director of Commercial Operations & Communications at UWW.

The discussions between the two parties revolved around the growth of wrestling in Azerbaijan, Grappling, Pankration, Amateur MMA, and an inaugural pro league in wrestling by UWW.

"We were pleased to meet with Nenad LALOVIC, President of United World Wrestling," Jabbarov wrote in a social media post. "During our discussion, we highlighted the initiatives undertaken to develop wrestling in Azerbaijan, including efforts to train young talents and enhance cooperation to further elevate the professionalism and international achievements of our athletes.

We were pleased to meet with Nenad Lalović, President of United World Wrestling (@wrestling). During our discussion, we highlighted the initiatives undertaken to develop wrestling in #Azerbaijan, including efforts to train young talents and enhance cooperation to further elevate… pic.twitter.com/qtwcY80JS1

— Mikayil Jabbarov (@MikayilJabbarov) December 11, 2024

"We also emphasized that the inclusion of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation in the leadership of UWW’s newly established Committee for Grappling, Pankration, and Amateur MMA reflects the high level of trust placed in our country’s wrestling community."

Azerbaijan has been a hotspot of wrestling and hosted the European Olympic Games Qualifier for the Paris Games in 2024. It also hosted the U23 European Championships and European Grappling Championships. In 2022, it played host to the Greco-Roman World Cup. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Azerbaijan qualified 12 wrestlers and won three bronze medals.