#WrestleBudapest

Must-watch storylines from Budapest Ranking Series

By Vinay Siwach

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 4) -- As the Budapest Ranking Series gets underway Thursday in the Hungary capital, a few intriguing storylines will be seen on the mats. Countries will be finalizing their Olympic line-ups, a few star wrestlers are returning to competition while others are competing for the ranking points.

Here are the top storylines that no wrestling fan should miss at the Budapest Ranking Series which will be live on uww.org using UWW+.

Iran's dilemma

A wrestle-off is set to be held by Iran in Budapest to decide on the Paris Olympic team. Tokyo Olympic champion Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) won the spot by winning bronze at the World Championships. But Saeid ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI) won the Asian Championships to lay his claim for the 67kg gold medal.

60kg will also see a wrestle-off as Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI) is set to face Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI) to decide who goes to the Paris Games.

Also, Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) is wrestling!

Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) will wrestle for the first time since winning gold medal at the Asian Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Sachiko Hotaka)

Yazdani returns

Undoubtedly Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) returning to competition is the big show in Budapest. Since winning the silver medal at the World Championships in Belgrade, Yazdani has wrestled only once, winning the gold medal at the Asian Games. A shoulder injury kept him out for eight months but Yazdani will be wrestling at 86kg on Thursday.

Before the Ranking Series, there were talks in Iran about a potential clash of Yazdani against 92kg world champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) who is looking to make the Paris Olympic team for Iran. But Iran decided to send Yazdani alone and will assess his performance before deciding on a trial between the two.

Ziqi FENG (CHN)Ziqi FENG (CHN) gave a scare to Yui SUSAKI (JPN) in the Asian Championships final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

China's problem of plenty

China rarely sends a portion of its team to the Ranking Series. But it has sent only five wrestlers for Budapest, all in Women's Wrestling. Three wrestlers are entered at 50kg and two at 57kg, expected for a wrestle-off.

Yu ZHANG (CHN), Jiang ZHU (CHN) and Ziqi FENG (CHN) are fighting for the Paris Olympic spot at 50kg. Feng won the quota for China by winning the bronze medal at the World Championships in Belgrade.

Qi ZHANG (CHN) and Kexin HONG (CHN) will wrestle off for the spot at 57kg. Hong won the quota at the Asian Olympic Qualifier in Bishkek. But Zhang, a world champion at 59kg, won the Asian Championships, a run that also had a win over Risako KINJO (JPN) in the first round.

Jamalov's switch

Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) has been waiting for his Uzbekistan debut which will finally happen in Budapest. Jamalov will take the mat at 74kg and can also face Bekzhod ABURKHAMANOV (UZB), meaning that their match can also be a wrestle-off.  Jamalov has not wrestled at an international event since finishing fifth at the 2021 European Championships but has previously shown that he can win against any top wrestler on his day.

#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Greco-Roman Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 19) -- The World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will see 309 Greco-Roman wrestlers compete for the world titles.

The Greco-Roman competition will be towards in the end of the World Championships. For full schedule, click here.

Note: The entry are subject to change. Please refer to uww.org for latest updates

Zagreb

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Anil MOR (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Taiga ONISHI (JPN)
Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Junsik YU (KOR)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Jayden RANEY (USA)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
SURAJ (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Dahyun KIM (KOR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Alexis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Yuhe HUANG (CHN)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Andres MONTANO (ECU)
Moamen MOHAMED (EGY)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
Manato NAKAMURA (JPN)
Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Hector SANCHEZ ZAPATA (MEX)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Chan KIM (PRK)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ellis COLEMAN (USA)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Julian HORTA (COL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
ANIL (IND)
Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)
Neiser MARIMON HIDALGO (VEN)

72kg
Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG)
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Petar GORNYASHKI (BUL)
Lei LI (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Dalgat MAGOMEDOV (CZE)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Luis BARRIOS (HON)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Irving SALAZAR (MEX)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Mustafa SAHIN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Danil GRIGOREV (UWW)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Calebe CORREA (BRA)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Likui SHI (CHN)
Harryson NSIAMAZA (COD)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Noil UMAROV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hyeonjin KANG (KOR)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Saad AL SULAITI (QAT)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Lai Hsing YAO (TPE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Maksim SHEDZ (UWW)
Sergei KUTUZOV (UWW)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Zhihuan WANG (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
RAHUL (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Wonjong SUN (KOR)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Gabriel DINETTE (PHI)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)
Ilya BITSEYEU (UWW)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Erion RAMLJAK (AUS)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Jianwen LUO (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Loic Dimitri SAMEN (FRA)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Karan KAMBOJ (IND)
Alireza MOHMADI (IRI)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Baurzhan MUSSIN (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Jose VARGAS (MEX)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Hamza SERTCANLI (SWE)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (UWW)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)
Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Youfang ZHANG (CHN)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Rakhat BERZHANOV (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Michial FOY (USA)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)

130kg
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
SONU (IND)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Akarys BERDASHOV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Hekim GURBANMYRADOV (TKM)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)
Moises PEREZ (VEN)