#WrestleTirana

Muhamet Malo 2025 Ranking Series Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (February 13) -- Close to 500 wrestlers, including world and Olympic champions, will descend upon Tirana to wrestle in the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series.

The number makes the second Ranking Series the most competitive since the start of the Ranking Series events. Iran, Japan, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the United States are sending top teams for the February 26 to March 2 event.

The Ranking Series will be live on uww.org with Freestyle kicking off things on February 26.

Note: The entry list is subject to change. For the final list of participants, refer to UWW Arena here.

Freestyle

57kg
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Jianhao LIU (CHN)
Hongzhou LIAO (CHN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Ali MOMENI (IRI)
Hadi REZAEI (IRI)
Kento YUMIA (JPN)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Sultan KURMANALIYEV (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)

61kg
Artem GOBAEV (AIN)
Nachyn MONGUSH (AIN)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (AIN)
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)
Shengjie HU (CHN)
Chengtao WANG (CHN)
Daviti ABDALADZE (GEO)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Meirambek KARTBAY (KAZ)
Mukhamed BALGABAY (KAZ)
Shynggyskhan ZHANTASSULY (KAZ)
Bekbolot MYRZANAZAR UULU (KGZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)

65kg
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN)
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Klevisi PRECI (ALB)
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Congbao XIE (CHN)
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Kaisei TANABE (JPN)
Adilkhan ALBAIULY (KAZ)
Adlan ASKAROV (KAZ)
Nursultan SADYK (KAZ)
Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Sergiu LUPASCO (MDA)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Kamol BEGAKOV (TJK)
Cavit ACAR (TUR)
Dmytro MYKHNIUK (UKR)
Real WOODS (USA)

70kg
Eriglent PRIZRENI (ALB)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Tao WEI (CHN)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Yernur NURGAZY (KAZ)
Omurbek TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Tobias PORTMANN (SUI)
James GREEN (USA)
William LEWAN (USA)
Yahya THOMAS (USA)

74kg
Magoma DIBIRGADZHIEV (AIN)
Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Ning WANG (CHN)
Tao SHEN (CHN)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Otari BAGAURI (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Hikaru TAKATA (JPN)
Alibek ABDIKASSYMOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Quincy MONDAY (USA)

79kg
Gadzhimurad ALIKHMAEV (AIN)
Orges LILA ALB
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Petar PETKOV (BUL)
Nan CAO (CHN)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Tornike TULASHVILI (GEO)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Shane JONES (PUR)
Alfred DANIEL (SLE)
David MC FADDEN (USA)
Evan WICK (USA)

86kg
Jorge LLANO (ARG)
Hui CHEN (CHN)
Taimuraz FRIEV NASKIDAEVA (ESP)
Tamaz NIKOLEISHVILI (GEO)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Daniyar KAISANOV (KAZ)
Rustem MYRZAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat RAKHIMOV (KGZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Chandler MARSTELLER (USA)

92kg
Alan BAGAEV (AIN)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (AIN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
NARENMANDUHAI (CHN)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Teimuraz KOCHKIANI (GEO)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Nurdaulet BEKENOV (KAZ)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA)

97kg
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (AIN)
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Gurgen SIMONYAN (ARM)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Dato PIRUZASHVILI (GEO)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Erfan ALIZADEH (IRI)
Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)

125kg
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (AIN)
Zelimkhan KHIZRIEV (AIN)
Paris KAREPI (ALB)
Gabriel DE SOUSA SILVA (BRA)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Nursultan AZOV (KAZ)
Omar EYUBOV (KAZ)
Omarkhan NADIROV (KAZ)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Demetrius THOMAS (USA)
Jordan WOOD (USA)

Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)Two-time Olympic medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) will begin her season in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Nadezhda SOKOLOVA (AIN)
Kamila BARBOSA (BRA)
Katie DUTCHAK (CAN)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Keke SHI (CHN)
MEIDUOLAJI (CHN)
Liying YU (CHN)
Umi ITO (JPN)
Svetlana ANKICHEVA (KAZ)
Emilia VUC (ROU)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Aida KERYMOVA (UKR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Erin GOLSTON (USA)

53kg
Natalia MALYSHEVA (AIN)
Adrianny CASTILLO (ARG)
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Meilin ZHOU (CHN)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Felicity TAYLOR (USA)

55kg
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (AIN)
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Haruna MURAYAMA OKUNO (JPN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

57kg
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)

59kg
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (AIN)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Sakura ONISHI (JPN)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Abigail NETTE (USA)

62kg
Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
LILI (CHN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Kalmira BILIMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Sara LINDBORG (SWE)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

65kg
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
Yuqi RAO (CHN)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Jennifer PAGE ROGERS (USA)

68kg
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)
Yuqi LIU (CHN)
Zelu LI (CHN)
Gerda BARTH (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)

72kg
Linda MACHUCA (ARG)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Alla BELINSKA (UKR)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)
Skylar GROTE (USA)

76kg
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (AIN)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Meile ZHANG (CHN)
YANGLA (CHN)
Bernadett NAGY (HUN)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Elmira SYZDYKOVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)

Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)Semen NOVIKOV (BUL), right, will be in action at Greco-Roman 87kg in Albania. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Andi MUCA (ALB)
Bajram SINA (ALB)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Aibek AITBEKOV (KAZ)
Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Yersin ABYIR (KAZ)
Nurbolot BERDIKULOV (KGZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)

60kg
Ergi UKU (ALB)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Nedyalko PETROV (BUL)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Yunlong HU (CHN)
Ziyue XI (CHN)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Yu SHIOTANI (JPN)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Enes BASAR (TUR)

63kg
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Etienne KINSINGER (GER)
Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurzat MARAT (KAZ)
Olzhas SULTAN (KAZ)
Baiaman APILOV (KGZ)
Dastan KADYROV (KGZ)
Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)

67kg
Ardit ZENELI (ALB)
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Dongfu XIE (CHN)
Lei LI (CHN)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Abylaikhan AMZEYEV (KAZ)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)

72kg
Xhorxh FRROKAJ (ALB)
Emiljano TAFA (ALB)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Sajjad IMENTALAB (IRI)
Nikolay KHAPKO (KAZ)
Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Mehmet SAHIN (TUR)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Albert DOEV (BUL)
Yuhe HUANG (CHN)
Likui SHI (CHN)
Zhihuan WANG (CHN)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Abolfazl MOHMEDI (IRI)
Kodai SAKURABA (JPN)
Iznovr ABAYEV (KAZ)
Yeldos KAMELOV (KAZ)
Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Maurus ZOGG (SUI)
Per Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Artur POLITAIEV (UKR)

82kg
Boris FRROKAJ (ALB)
Ardit NDOJ (ALB)
Kelsi NELAJ (ALB)
Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Dias KALTAY (KAZ)
Olzhas YERGALI (KAZ)
Talas ASHIRKHANOV (KAZ)
Beksultan NAZARBAEV (KGZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Per Anders KURE (NOR)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Emrah KUS (TUR)
Mykyta POLITAIEV (UKR)

87kg
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Jiaxin HUANG (CHN)
Jianwen LUO (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Gurami KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Ilimdor SATAYEV (KAZ)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Nurzhan ASSAN (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Azat SALIDINOV (KGZ)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Artur OVSEPYAN (UKR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)

97kg
Julijan SHEHU (ALB)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Youfang ZHANG (CHN)
Shange ZHANG (CHN)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Mathias BAK (DEN)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Takahiro TSURUDA (JPN)
Aidos AMIROV (KAZ)
Yerzat YERLANOV (KAZ)
Melis AITBEKOV (KGZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Nicu Samuel OJOG (ROU)
Beytullah KAYISDAG (TUR)

130kg
Rigers KURTI (ALB)
Laga BAYI (CHN)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO)
Saba CHILASHVILI (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Assylbek ABDIKALYK (KAZ)
Olzhas SYRLYBAY (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Muhammet Hamza BAKIR (TUR)

#WrestleNoviSad

U23 Worlds: Fujinami ready for first international test at 57kg

By Ken Marantz

TOKYO, Japan (October 9) -- She already has an Olympic gold and two senior world titles, not to mention a 141-match winning streak that dates back to her junior high school days. And there is that undefeated record against non-Japanese opponents.

So what has compelled Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) to even bother entering the U23 World Championships, a tournament that, on paper at least, she should have no problem winning?

Rest assured there is method to what she would not regard as madness. It is all part of a grand plan, centered on the 21-year-old's much-publicized move from 53kg directly up to the next Olympic weight of 57kg with eyes firmly on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"This will by my first world tournament since I moved up in weight class," Fujinami said in an interview via social media. "I want to try out what I have been practicing, and get an idea of where I stand in terms of my current ability. I also want to identify areas to work on ahead of the All-Japan Championships in December."

Fujinami tops the marquee as she makes her debut at the U23 World Championships, to be held October 20-27 in Novi Sad, Serbia. Currently in her senior year at Nippon Sports Science University, it will be just her third competition since she cruised to the 53kg gold at the Paris Olympics, where she won all four matches by either fall or technical superiority.

The two other outings -- one a collegiate team event in November 2024 and the other the Japan Queen's Cup in April at which she qualified for the U23 Worlds -- did not provide much of a workout. She won a total of four matches in a combined time of 7:11 without giving up a point.

Fujinami expressed no concerns about her extended absence from top-level competition. "This will be my first tournament in six months," she said. "I'm not worried about regaining my match feeling. For the Olympics, I had about a seven-month blank."

Fujinami had at first planned to try for the senior worlds, but decided she would not be ready as she makes the physical adjustment to 57kg. So will we see a bulked-up Fujinami in Novi Sad?

"Compared with the time when I was in the 53kg class, my natural weight is more than then," Fujinami said. "I am also going to have cut weight before the tournament at 57kg. I'm also working hard on weight training, and I'll try to show the effects of that in the matches."

Despite her exalted status, Fujinami knows not to take any opponent lightly – a lesson she learned fully well when she won her second senior world title in 2023. In the quarterfinals, she was stunned when Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) tagged her for five points early in the match and seven overall, marking the most points ever scored upon her by a non-Japanese.

Although Fujinami came back to take the lead and win by fall, it showed any lapse can lead to disaster – which, ironically, makes the sport more appealing for her.

“You never know what will happen in a match,” Fujinami said. “But I think that’s what makes it interesting. For me, a match is like a presentation of yourself, so I will go into it aiming to win while having fun.”

In Novi Sad, Fujinami may have to share some of the spotlight with compatriot, fellow Paris Olympic gold medalist and recently crowned senior world champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN).

A victory by Motoki at 62kg would make her the third member of the “Golden Grand Slam” club -- those who have combined an Olympic gold with titles on the senior and all three age-group levels. The two current members are Yui SUSAKI (JPN) and Amit ELOR (USA).

Ironically, circumstances beyond her control worked against Fujinami ever having a chance to also gain entry into the club.

A world U17 champion in 2018, she was deprived twice of chances to win a U20 world title – first in 2021 when Japan opted to not send a team during the pandemic, and again in 2022 when an injury forced her to withdraw. Those same years she qualified for the U23 worlds, but missed out for the same reasons.

This time, her preparations have gone without a hitch. "I've been able to continue to train and practice without any major injuries," she said.

Prior to securing a second Olympic gold in Los Angeles, Fujinami has a more immediate goal — winning her first at the Asian Games, to be held next October in Nagoya / Aichi Prefecture, which borders her native Mie Prefecture. Because of the early deadline for entries, she needs a victory at the All-Japan Championships in December to make the Japanese squad.

“My goals are to win gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya and at the Los Angeles Olympics,” she said. “To achieve those goals, I’ve dedicated myself to strengthening myself during this period. It’s been a time for me to look inside myself and explore my wrestling. Now the time has come to show the results.”