#WrestleAlexandria

Ndum, Fafe repeat as African champs; Nigeria sweeps WW

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 20:47 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 19) -- Egypt dominated Greco-Roman on day one of the senior African Championships with nine out of 10 gold medals and the team title. While it won the team title in Freestyle, it could not repeat the golden performance of the Greco team.

Egypt finished at the top of the podium with 205 points with Algeria finishing second with 170 points. Senegal finished third with 96 points. The three countries shared eight gold medals amongst themselves and the remaining two went to Guinea Bissau.

Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) and Bacar NDUM (GBS) became the African champions for the second time after winning the 57kg and 74kg gold medals respectively.

Iuna Fafe was defending his 57kg gold medal and opened his account with a 5-1 win over KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN). He followed that up with a fall over Omar FAYE (SEN) and then pinned Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR) in the final after leading 8-0.

Ndum, who won the 70kg title in 2022, won the gold medal at 74kg after blanking Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG), 10-0, in the final. But his first bout was a see-saw that he won 13-12 against Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY). Ndum had built a 7-0 lead in the first period but Abdelhady hit a beautiful reverse trip to score a four-pointer and then rolled Ndum three times to lead 10-7 with 1:04 left.

Ndum would put Abdelhady on his back for four before a reversal forced him to give up a point. Abdelhady led 11-11 on criteria when Ndum challenged and lost to give him a clear 12-11 lead with 31 seconds left.

That time was enough for Ndum to finish another takedown and lead 13-12 as he played out the final 18 seconds without further drama.

Iuna Fafe and Ndum will now look to earn a spot for Paris next weekend at the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers.

Egypt was carried by Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY) who won the 65kg gold medal after beating Zohier IFTENE (ALG), 8-6, in the final. At 86kg, Mohamed ABDELAAL (EGY) overcame Oussama ABDELLAOUI (ALG), 11-4 and won the gold medal.

Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) was far more convincing as he won his final against Ashton MUTUWA (NGR), 11-0. Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY) at 92kg earned the bronze medal in a three-wrestler bracket.

Tokyo Olympian Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) had moved to 61kg for the championships and won the gold medal in the new weight category. He defeated Didier DIATTA (SEN), 16-5, in a high-scoring final. In all likelihood, Kherbache will move to 57kg for the qualifiers.

Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG) added another gold medal for Algeria after he defeated Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 7-5, in the 70kg final as Algeria won its third gold medal of the night.

Pape NDIAYE (SEN) stunned everyone as he defeated Abdelrahman ABOUHEIBA (EGY), via fall, in the 97kg final. Ndiaye won all his bouts via technical superiority or via fall.

Nigeria sweeps

Nigeria won all five gold medals on offer as the Asian Championships ended. It had won four out of the five on Monday and added five more.

At 50kg, Mercy GENESIS (NGR) defeated Rosine NTSA ASSOUGA (CMR), via fall, to announce her name as the favorite to earn a Paris ticket at the qualifiers from  March 22 to 24.

Adijat IDRIS (NGR), Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR), Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR) and Ebi BIOGOS (NGR) won the gold medals at 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg.

With nine gold and one silver medal, Nigeria won the team title with 245 points out of the possible 250 points. Egypt finished second with 162 points while Tunisia is third with 140 points.

fg

RESULTS

Freestyle

57kg
GOLD: Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) df. Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR), via fall (8-0)

BRONZE: KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN) df. Omar FAYE (SEN), 2-1
BRONZE: Abdelrahman MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Alexander BUCKMAN (CPV), 10-0

61kg
GOLD: Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) df. Didier DIATTA (SEN), 16-5

BRONZE: Hassan ELSAYED (EGY) df. Reginaldo da SILVA (ANG), 10-0

65kg
GOLD: Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY) df. Zohier IFTENE (ALG), 8-6

BRONZE: Manaceu NGONDA (ANG) df. Sylvio DIATTA (SEN), 13-3
BRONZE: Stephen IZOLO (NGR) df. Gibriel CHOW (GAM), via walkover

70kg
GOLD: Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG) df. Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 7-5

BRONZE: Brendin LOUW (RSA) df. Ya Mouhamed NDONG (SEN), via fall (2-4)

74kg
GOLD: Bacar NDUM (GBS) df. Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG), 10-0

BRONZE: Joao BARBOSA (CPV) df. Jacques MONTY (CMR), 10-0
BRONZE: Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY) df. Arno VAN ZIJL (RSA), 11-7

79kg
GOLD: Chems FETAIRIA (ALG)
SILVER: Nasser SAYED (EGY)
BRONZE: Mohamed BEN JAAFAR (TUN)

86kg
GOLD: Mohamed ABDELAAL (EGY) df. Oussama ABDELLAOUI (ALG), 11-4

BRONZE: Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR) df. Mark ONGUYESI (KEN), 10-0
BRONZE: Matteo MONTEIRO (CPV) df. Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR), 5-3

92kg
GOLD: Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY)
SILVER: Issa RHIMI (TUN)
BRONZE: Yacine LAKROUT (ALG)

97kg
GOLD: Pape NDIAYE (SEN) df. Abdelrahman ABOUHEIBA (EGY), via fall (10-0)

BRONZE: Franck ANABA (CMR) df. Amoussou CAKPO (BEN), via inj. (4-1)

125kg
GOLD: Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) df. Ashton MUTUWA (NGR), 11-0

BRONZE: Justin VAN ZYL (RSA) df. Georges TCHADIE (CMR), via fall (4-0)
BRONZE: Modou FAYE (SEN) df. Djahid BERRAHAL (ALG), 15-4

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Mercy GENESIS (NGR) df. Rosine NTSA ASSOUGA (CMR), via fall

BRONZE: Nourhene HEDHLI (TUN) df. Matilda KOKERA (RSA), via fall
BRONZE: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Malak AHMED (EGY), 13-2

55kg
GOLD: Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
SILVER: Aya SOLIMAN (EGY)
BRONZE: Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN)

59kg
GOLD: Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
SILVER: Hana HUSSEIN (EGY)
BRONZE: Chahd JELJELI (TUN)

65kg
GOLD: Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR)
SILVER: Badawi HAMDOUN (EGY)
BRONZE: Ikome VIOLETTE NAMONDO (CMR)

72kg
GOLD: Ebi BIOGOS (NGR)
SILVER: AYA ICHAOUI (TUN)
BRONZE: Aimelda NDIFFO (SEN)

#WrestleAthens

Iran survives Uzbekistan scare to win Greco title at U17 Worlds

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - 16:59 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ATHENS, Greece (July 30) -- Four gold medals were not enough for Uzbekistan as they fell short in what could have been a generational team title in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships.

Iran, which won one gold medal out of 10, was crowned team champions as it performed well in placing their wrestlers in the weight classes. It finished with 125 points while Uzbekistan finished seven short at 118 points. Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points.

Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan were not far behind and finished fourth and fifth respectively, tied on 100 points. Both countries had one gold medal each but Kyrgyzstan had two silver medals to Azerbaijan's one to finish ahead of them.

Read More: Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history in Athens

Iran had eight wrestlers in the medal-bouts and six of them returned with one. Iran finished with one gold, one silver and four bronze medals. Uzbekistan, on the other side, had only those four golds to show. Four of its wrestlers did not contribute points to the team race.

In one head-to-head bout on Wednesday, Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) secured a 7-5 win over Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB) in 60kg bronze-medal bout which proved crucial. A win for Erkinov would have seen Uzbekistan win the title.

Then it was the gold medal of Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) at 92kg which helped Iran jump from fourth place to first. He wrestled Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) for the gold medal and began with three stepouts. Kasyan was called passive and put in par terre. Mohammadi turned him twice and won the final 8-0 in 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Uzbekistan's two gold medals came at 51kg and 71kg.

Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) won the gold medal at 51kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Asian U17 bronze medalist Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) added a third Greco gold of the World U17 Championships for Uzbekistan after he defeated Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1, in the 51kg.

Hagverdiyev was about to be called passive and put in par terre but he scored a stepout to avoid that call and lead 1-0. Tursunov answered with a stepout of his own and made 1-1. However, the criteria remained with Hagverdiyev as United World Wrestling is testing a new rule, where in Greco-Roman, if the score is 1-1, the criteria will be with the wrestler who got the first point.

Tursunov, however, got the par terre position in the second period and a 2-1 lead over Hagverdiyev. He defended his lead for the final minute and as the Azerbaijan wrestler tried a throw, he blocked him and landed on top, earning two more points.

Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) upgraded his bronze from 2024 to gold in 2025. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

At 71kg, Asian U17 champion Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) denied the hosts a gold after he defeated Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1, in the final.

Valiev seemed to have taken the burnt from a few tough bouts from Tuesday as he struggled with his attacks against Soulis, who was egged on by vocal home fans.

However, he found enough inside him to turn from par terre and defend from that position in the second period to win the fourth gold medal of the tournament for Uzbekistan.

Ali NAZAROV (AZE)Ali NAZAROV (AZE) scored a 6-1 victory over Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) in the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Ali NAZAROV (AZE) showed why gut-wrench is still one of the best techniques to score points in wrestling as he rolled Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) two times from par terre using gut wrench and win the world title at 60kg.

He later defended his par terre position, winning the final 6-1 and handing Azerbaijan the first gold medal for the World U17 Championships in Athens.

An action-packed match kicked off the medal bouts with Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) and Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) did not hold back their attacks as soon as the final began.

Zhangazhol did not waste much time to get going in the final against Kumarbekov as he used an arm throw to score the first four points but it was removed after he was warned for using his leg.

But he scored a takedown for a 2-0 and then hit a front headlock throw to make it 6-0. Kumarbekov answered with a four-pointer as well and both wrestlers used arm-rolls in the same sequence to score points. When they broke off at the break, Zhangazhol led 8-6.

After the blazing first half, both wrestlers had a subdued second and no more points were scored despite desperate attempts from Kumarbekov. Zhangazhol celebrated his win a split-second early but there was no harm done.

Kyrgyzstan challenged for fleeing in the final five seconds and on review, Zhangazhol was it with a caution for defensive foul, it only got Kumarbekov a point, making Zhangazhol's winning score 8-7.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ), 9-6

BRONZE: Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) df. Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR), 9-0
BRONZE: Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA) vs. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-3

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE), 4-1

BRONZE: Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 11-0
BRONZE: Abu Bakar SAGA (NOR) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 5-3

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ), 6-1

BRONZE: Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) df. Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB), 7-5
BRONZE: Zaven MEZHLUMYAN (ARM) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 5-2

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE), 3-1

BRONZE: Hossein KAZEMI (IRI) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 4-3
BRONZE: Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ) df. Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN), 7-1

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), 8-0

BRONZE: Ahmet UZUN (TUR) df. Said PASHAYEV (AZE), 5-0
BRONZE: David CALKINS (USA) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 4-0