#WrestleBudapest

Live Blog: #WrestleBudapest European Championships Day 2

Tuesday, March 29, 2022 - 08:50 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 29) -- The second day of the European Championships will see five more freestyle weight classes in Budapest.

After the first day which saw stars secure their berth to the finals, wrestlers from 61kg, 74kg, 86kg, 92kg and 125kg will be in action and try to reach their respective gold-medal bouts.

Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Arsen HARUTYUNTAN (ARM), Taha AKGUL (TUR) including other stars will be on the mat Tuesday.

WATCH LIVE | MATCH ORDER\

2:15: The results of the 74kg quarterfinals:

Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) df Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR), via injury
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) df Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU), 12-1
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM) df Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN), 3-0
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) df Aimar ANDRUSE (EST), 10-0

2:00: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) beats Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Abraham CONYEDO RUANO (ITA) by technical superiority at 125kg.

1:40: U23 world champion Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) takes only a minute to pin Besir ALILI (MKD) at 61kg and he will wrestle in the semifinals later

01:06: Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) and Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL) put on a show in a thrilling 74kg bout. Bayramov scores a takedown with 16 seconds remaining to lead 4-2. Umarpashaev scores a step-out and was about to get a seconds but Bayramov circles around quickly to avoid that and win 4-3. 

01:00: Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV warms up with a 5-0 win and moves on to the quarterfinals. Remember, he can meet Chamizo in the final if both remain unbeaten

12:55: Defending champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) is up against Kamil RYBICKI (POL) on Mat A. All Rybicki attacks have been countered by Salkazanov and he leads 5-0.

12:45: Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) begins with a win over Giorgi SULAVA (GEO) at 74kg. He controls the bout in the second period to finish the match 10-2  

12:30: Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM) was just getting started in the bout with a four-point move but Hetik CABOLOV (SRB) seems to have injured himself. He pulls out due to the injury to give Alikhanyan the win. 

12:15: Oslo bronze medalist Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) is in action on Mat A at 86kg. Before you can blink your eye, he has points on board against Denis BALAUR (MDA). He is moving so brilliantly. Insane pressure from Abakarov and he wins the bout 12-1

12:00: Keep an eye on Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB). He is the biggest threat to the 61kg gold medal and he begins with an 11-0 win over Adam AL KANDOUSSI (NED).

11:50: It was a grind but Tarzan MAISURADZE (GEO) upsets Boris MAKOEV (SVK) 5-2 at 86kg and the Georgia fans in the stadium are frantic in their celebrations

11:30: Tarzan MAISURADZE (GEO) and Boris MAKOEV (SVK) are wrestling on Mat A for the opening round at 86kg. This is a super exciting match between two really high-class wrestlers

11:00: Another big day here in Budapest as we have five more freestyle weight classes. We are just 30 minutes out.

#wrestlemanama

Bahrain to host 2026 World Championships

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 - 12:02 By United World Wrestling Press

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 16) -- For the first time in history, the World Championships are headed to Bahrain.

The 2026 World Championships will be held in Manama, Bahrain from October 24 November 1, United World Wrestling announced on Tuesday, during the ongoing World Championships in Zagreb.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

Secretary General of the Bahrain Olympic Committee Faris AL-KOOHEJI attended the press conference at the Arena Zagreb for the historic announcement. UWW President Nenad LALOVIC and Al-Kooheji announced the host together and signed the agreement.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Lalovic said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision.

Bahrain won its first-ever gold medal in Olympics in Paris when Tahzudinov ran-through the 97kg weight class and captured the gold medal. A year before that, he won the world title in the same weight class.

Tazhudinov is also an Asian champion, Asian Games champion and winner of other Ranking Series events.

Lalovic on the fact that wrestling wants to change the host continent of the World Championships more regularly.

 "We also want to change the continent regularly," he said. "A state that can organize the Asian [Youth] Games like they will do now in October, they will not face any problem with the championships, especially that we give all the assistance possible for the execution"

Manama, Bahrain will host the Asian Youth Games in which wrestling will be held from October 28 to 30.

Expressing its gratitude to UWW and readiness to host the mega event, Al-Kooheji said that the tournament will help Bahrain take wrestling to the grassroot levels in the country.

"For us, wrestling is a long term project," Al-Kooheji said. "Wrestling is a growing sport. It's a strategic sport for us. We got a gold medal in Paris, and we're looking to getting more medals. That gold medal started to inspire a lot of people, locally, to pursue wrestling, which is why part of the discussions with United World Wrestling is to even help us add wrestling in schools."

The Bahrain Olympic Committee expects that the World Championships will have a positive impact in growing the sport in the country.

"Strong economic impact [from the event]," he said. "We're going to get lots of travel spectators from Iran, the United States, and other countries as well. It's going to encourage the local community. They will understand more wrestling."