#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)

#BeachWrestling

Zenkina, Khoma power Ukraine to top at U20 Beach Wrestling Worlds

By Vinay Siwach

KATERINI-PIERRIA, Greece (September 28) -- Riding on inspiring performances by former world U17 champion Mariia ZENKINA (UKR) and European silver medalist Yelyzaveta KHOMA (UKR), Ukraine emerged as the best country at the U20 World Beach Wrestling Championships in Greece.

Out of the four gold medals on offer in women's category, Ukraine won two while Romania and Serbia won one each. In the men’s division, Iran dominated its way to the top of the team rankings.

Ukraine finished at the top of the team race with 85 points while the United States was second with 50 points. Serbia managed to finish third with 39 points.

Zenkina, a U17 World Championships silver medalist in 2022, showed her skills on the beach as well and won all her bouts, including the final, without giving up a point.

Facing compatriot Daria KONSTANTYNOVA (UKR) in the +70kg final, Zenkina got the first point when Konstantynova failed to score after being put on the 30-second activity period. Zenkina then scored via snapdown which forced Konstantynova to touch the sand with her knees.

Zenkina defended her 2-0 lead for the remaining 27 seconds to claim her second world title, the first coming at U17 level in 2021.

Khoma was equally dominant in her run to gold at 60kg but needed strong defense in the final against local favorite Evdoxia PAPADOPOULOU (GRE) to win the gold medal.

The final was off to an electric start with both wrestlers giving it a go and scoring points. It was Papadopoulou who scored the first point with a stepout and took a 1-0 lead. However, Khoma fired back with a snapdown with Papadopoulou's elbow touching the sand and she took a 1-1 criteria lead.

Papdopoulou tried forcing a stepout when Khoma used double underhooks to throw the Greece wrestler who landed on her elbow, giving one more point to Khoma. In the next exchange, Khoma tried a whizzer but she touched her head on sand before Papadopoulou's which cost her one point and the lead exchanged hands. Now, the Greece wrestler led 2-2 on criteria with two minutes remaining in the match.

Khoma wasted no time in launching her next attack and pushed Papadopoulou towards the edge of the ring. As Papadopoulou tried to counter throw, Khoma kept her balance and forced her opponent to touch the sand. This gave Khoma the winning score of 3-2 as in Beach Wrestling, the first wrestler to three points wins.

Ukraine's third finalist Alevtyna LIASHENKO (UKR) was not so lucky as she lost the 50kg final to Ana ROTARU (ROU) via fall. Rotaru hit a blast double to open the scoring in the final and take a 1-0 lead. She used a similar technique to score her second point and lead 2-0 with 53 seconds left in the match.

She left nothing to chance and hit a perfect headlock throw for three points, ending the match 5-0, and victory via fall. [A three-point move in Beach Wrestling is considered fall].

Serbia won its first-ever gold medal at the U20 World Championships after European silver medalist Masa PEROVIC (SRB) scored a fall over world U17 champion Alexandra MOISEI (MDA) to claim the top medal at 70kg.

Moisei scored the first point of the final with hip toss and take a 1-0 lead and extended it to 2-0 by avoiding a trip attempt from Perovic who fell head first and lost another point. Moisei was going for the winning third point when Perovic attempted a lateral drop. While backstepping to avoid the drop, Moisei lost her balance and Perovic used that to her advantage and dropped Moisei on the back for three points and the win.

Iran's golden double

A day after winning the U17 World Championships team title in men's category, Iran continued to dominate Beach Wrestling by winning the U20 team title as well.

Like its U17 team, Iran won two golds in U20 competition to finish at the top of the team rankings with 77 points. Moldova finished second with 57 points while Ukraine was marginally behind at third with 55.

After missing out in the final in the first two weight classes, Ramtin RAVANBAKHSH (IRI) and Mersad SHAKERI (IRI) made sure Iran doesn't miss out on the finals by reaching the gold medal bouts at 90kg and +90kg respectively.

Ravanbakhsh showed impeccable defense in the final against Alexandru BORS (MDA), a former U17 World Championships silver medalist in Freestyle, at 90kg to win the gold medal. In fact, he had to beat Bors twice.

The two first met in a Group A match, which Ravanbakhsh won 1-0, before facing again in the final, where the Iranian repeated the result.

Shakeri was more active in his matches but was tested by Kostiantyn ZADOIANCHUK (UKR) in the final. He, however, managed to hold on to a 2-0 victory.

Shakeri hit a powerful snap which completely unbalanced Zadoianchuk who touched the sand with his knee and Shakeri got the first point. Shakeri got his second point with a stepout which Zadoianchuk had no chance to defend.

At 70kg, Eduard LENARD (ROU) dashed the hopes of local fans by beating Ilias KARNAVAS (GRE) in the gold medal bout in just 44 seconds.

Karnavas was sure that he got the first point as he pushed Lenard towards the edge but Lenard managed to keep himself inside and not give up the point for stepout. As Karnavas kept pushing, Lenard hit a counter whizzer for a point to dramatically turn the advantage around and lead 1-0.

As Karnavas got on a single-leg attack in another sequence, Lenard dropped him on his back with a whizzer which was scored as three points, giving the win to the Romanian. Karnavas challenged the call but on review, the original call for three points was upheld and Lenard was announced as the winner.

Moldova earned itself a gold medal at 80kg as Gabriel OJOG (MDA) scored a victory via fall over Zurab MAMULADZE (GEO) in the final. Mamuladze tried to hit a big move on Ojog who blocked it and landed on top of Mamuladze to score three points and the victory.