#development

Kuwait Wrestling Federation developing wrestling through education

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 - 18:36 By United World Wrestling Press

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KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (May 26) – The Kuwait Wrestling Federation hosted its first-ever education courses for coaches and referees. These courses were conducted in conjunction with UWW, Olympic Solidarity, Kuwait NOC and the Kuwait Wrestling Federation from May 21-26 in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Mr. Mohammed ADELFATTAH (USA/EGY) led the Coaching Course, while contrast, Mr. Kamel BMOUAZIZ (TUN), Vice-President of the UWW Referee Commission and President of the Arab Wrestling Federation, led the Referee Course.

The technical course for coaches was conducted May 21-25. During the course, 18 participants attended and participated in this Level 1 Course (Introduction to Coaching and Safety). The following topics were covered throughout the course: discovery games, introducing a new technique, coaching skills, giving feedback, risk management, age and developmental stage characteristics. During the course, coaches actively practiced and developed their skills through practical evaluations. Overall, the coaches gained important knowledge and skills to help them improve in their role as a coach. "Wrestling is a new sport in Kuwait. I saw a good group of past wrestlers join the course who could be good coaches in the future for the Kuwait Wrestling Federation," said Mr. Abdelfattah.

KUWAIT
Participants of the education courses for coaches and referees gather for a photo. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The Introduction to Refereeing Course was conducted from May 23-25. The course had 16 participants (14 men and two women). The participants learned the foundations of what it takes to be a great referee. The areas covered during the course included: the safety of the athletes, evaluation of holds, referee mechanics, positioning, and controlling the bout. The participants were active during the course and could practice their skills through practical assessment. "During the theoretical lessons, the participants actively asked questions and wanted to learn. The enthusiasm and atmosphere in the course were excellent. They were constantly requesting to learn as much as possible," said Mr. Bouaziz.

After the courses, the Kuwait Wrestling Federation organized a competition on May 26, allowing the coaches and referees to practice the new skills they learned.

"On my own behalf and behalf of all my colleagues of the Kuwait NOC Executive Board, I would like to express my gratitude for hosting the Wrestling Technical Courses for referees and coaches in collaboration with Olympic solidarity, which was at the Kuwait Olympic Committee headquarters from May 21-26," said Mr. Mohamed Amir SAADI, Technical Director, Kuwait Olympic Committee. "This valuable course has been conducted by UWW experts, who do a great job."

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024 Wrestling Day 3 Preview: GR 67kg and 87kg; WW 53kg

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - 09:49 By Eric Olanowski

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PARIS, France (July 24) --- Two-thirds of the returning Greco-Roman Olympic champions -- Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) and Luis ORTA (CUB) -- along with the wrestler holding the world's longest win streak among active wrestlers, will compete on the third day in Paris 2024 when GR 67kg and 87kg and WW 53kg takes center stage at Champ de Mars Arena.

Beleniuk is a two-time Olympic medalist, having won gold in Tokyo and silver in Rio. The 33-year-old is on a mission to make history in Paris and become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic champ. Before Beleniuk's win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ukraine was 0-3 in Olympic finals and were still searching for someone to accompany the 1996 Atlanta Games 90kg gold medalist Vyatsheslav OLEYNIK (UKR) in the history books.

PARIS 2024 SCHEDULE | PARIS 2024 NEWS

Orta moved up from his Tokyo Olympic weight of 60kg to 67kg and is on a quest to join Filiberto ASCUY and Mijain LOPEZ as Cuba's only multiple-time Olympic champs.

In women's wrestling, Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) will look to extend her world-best 130-match win streak against the 53kg field.

Zhan BELENIUK (UKR)Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) won the gold medal at 87kg in Tokyo. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

GR 87kg: Beleniuk up against packed field

It's not often that the reigning Olympic champion heads into a competition as an underdog, but that's the case when five world champs are in one bracket. Besides Ukraine's reigning Olympic champion Beleniuk, the other world title holders in 87kg include David LOSONCZI (HUN), Ali CENGIZ (TUR), Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE).

Beleniuk will have to overcome dark horses Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) to become Ukraine's first-ever two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Cengiz won the outright world title in Belgrade, beating Beleniuk and Losonczi. However, he's since taken a step back to reality, going 5-3 in his last two competitions. Out of the three losses he's taken this season, two came against wrestlers he could face in Paris -- Komarov and Losonczi.

Cengiz lost to Komarov in the European finals before falling to Losonczi at the Hungarian Ranking Series event. Losonczi, the other half of the 2023 87kg world champions, followed a similar path as Cengiz during the first few months of the 2024 season.

After ending 2023 on a 14-match win streak, Losonczi lost his first match of the season to Alan OSTAEV (AIN) at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event. The 23-year-old Hungarian rebounded at the Hungarian Ranking Series event, beating Olympians Cengiz and Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ) before dropping out his of his finals match against Semen NOVIKOV (BUL).

Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE)Rafig HUSEYNOV (AZE) will be hoping to add a second Olympic medal to his resume. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Huseynov, a world champion in 2021 and '23, saved Azerbaijan's Paris hopes at the last moment, replacing No. 6 Islam ABBASOV (AZE) at 87kg for the final Olympic Qualifier. 

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist at 77kg, bumped up to 82kg, where he remained for the last three seasons, winning two world titles and a European gold. But at 36, Huseynov will return to Azerbaijan's lineup for one final run at an Olympic title.

With Huseynov being new to the category, he remains the question mark of the weight. Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI) and Gobadze have wrestled the Azeri before with Huseynov beating Mohamadipiani in last year's World Championships final and he defeated Gobadze to qualify Azerbaijan for Paris 2024.

Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) will be one of the darkhorses at 87kg in Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gobadze, the 2019 world champion, was a late addition to the entry list. He missed out on punching Georgia's ticket through the qualification competitions but earned an allocation after the Neutral Athletes dropped out. Gobadze has the talent to beat anyone in the world. In the last few years, since leaping 82kg to 87kg, the Georgian has beaten many top-tier guys who will also be at the Games. His previous wins include Cengiz and Bisultanov. On the other hand, he recently lost to Huseynov and Cengiz.

Komarov won the European Championships this year with wins over Beleniuk, Abbasov and Cengiz. He will be the biggest threat to make a run for the gold medal.

GR 67kg: New weight, old habits for Orta

Luis Orta has been a man on a mission since his disappointing seventh-place finish at the 2022 World Championships. He's turned his fortunes around, positioning himself to become Cuba's third-ever two-time Olympic champ. Since that blunder in Belgrade, Orta has gone 29-2, winning gold medals at the World Championships, Pan-Am Championships, Pan-Am Games, Central American and Caribbean Games and Hungarian Ranking Series. More importantly, his last two losses came at the hands of HUSIYUETU (CHN), who missed out on making the Olympic Games.

Of the 16 wrestlers in the field, Orta has at least one win over half of the entries. He's already beaten Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE), Andres MONTANO (ECU), Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ), Mate NEMES (SRB), Souleymen NASR (TUN), Nestor ALMANZA (CHI), Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) and Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI).

Orta has already bested Nemes and Jafarov, his most credentialed challengers. He defeated Jafarov twice last season and beat 2022 world champion Nemes in the quarterfinal of the 2023 World Championships.

Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) is the returning silver medalist at 67kg.(Photo: United World Wrestling / Dogukan Karadag)

He is yet to face two major threats: Olympic medalists Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) and Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY). After seeing what the Ukrainian has been able to do over the last few years, Orta will be more threatened by Nasibov than Elsayed. 

Nasibov, the Tokyo runner-up, has victories over Olympian Jafarov, Nemes, Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), and Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) this season alone. Meanwhile, Elsayed has struggled since his impressive Tokyo bronze-medal run, going 7-4 in non-African competitions.

Iran's Esmaeili is replacing Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammedreza GERAEI (IRI) after winning the playoff. He almost beat Orta in Budapest and has a win over Sogabe. Iran will hope that the youngster can make a surprise run to gold as Geraei did in Tokyo.

 

WW 53kg: Fujinami vs the rest

When it comes to betting favorites in the 53kg Paris field, oddsmakers have singled out Akari Fujinami as the safest wrestler to put money on. 

Fujinami, a 20-year-old phenom, has been unstoppable up to this point in her career. She's won 130 consecutive matches heading into Paris -- including two golds at the World Championships, golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games, and international and domestic competitions.

Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)Akari FUJINAMI (JPN), blue, pinned Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) at the 2023 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

To fully understand Fujinami's dominance, just look at her 2023 season. In her 21 matches last season at the World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games, Zagreb Open Ranking Series and Dan Kolov, Fujinami outscored her opponents 206-7 and finished 21/21 matches by technical superiority or via fall. Furthermore, 10 of those technical superiority wins came against wrestlers with at least one world medal to their name.

The only wrestler to score a point on Fujinami last season was Lucia YEPEZ (ECU). Fujinami gave up an early 5-0 lead but scored 14 consecutive points before securing a second-period fall.

Other threats to Fujinami include Qianyu PANG (CHN), Dominique PARRISH (USA), ANTIM (IND), and Jonna MALMGREN (SWE). Pang, Malmgren, and Antim have already faced Fujinami, while a matchup between Parrish and Fujinami would be a first.

Qianyu PANG (CHN)Qianyu PANG (CHN) is the returning silver medalist at 53kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Pang, an Olympic finalist in Tokyo, last faced Fujinami at the Asian Games, where the Japanese star won 10-0. Antim lost to Fujinami at the Asian Championships (10-0) and was pinned at the Asian Games. Malmgren and Fujinami met at the 2018 U17 World Championships, where Fujinami won 14-4.

Parrish was the 53kg world champion the year Fujinami withdrew from the World Championships. Fans and critics have long debated Parrish's world title without Fujinami's presence, leaving the American eager to face the young Japanese star.

The third day of wrestling at Paris 2024 starts on August 7. Follow @unitedworldwrestling on all social channels to stay updated on what's happening in Paris.