#development

North Macedonia hosts Referee and Coaches course, implements women's program

Thursday, May 12, 2022 - 10:56 By United World Wrestling Press

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SKOPJE, North Macedonia (May 9) -- United World Wrestling hosted the Referees and Coaches Course in North Macedonia from May 2 to 9, 2022. The course was conducted under UWW's Development department and educators Davor PETANJEK (CRO) and Georgi SREDIKOV (BUL) in Kochani, a city east of the capital Skopje.

North Macedonia will now implement a dedicated program for women's wrestling which is a significant part of UWW's 2022-2026 strategy. The program will contribute to the next stage of national training camps dedicated to women's wrestling in Macedonia.

A competition was also held for U17 wrestlers after the course to assess the referees and coaches and the educators noticed significant improvement.

macedoniaThe Referee and Coaches course was held from May 2 to 9.

"This course was a big project for us," Dragana Saveva, secretary of the North Macedonia Wrestling Federation, said. "We had a chance to learn from the best, I can't describe the changes that they made with our coaches and referees in a positive way. They learned something new, and improved their knowledge and skills."

The course was used to demonstrate the latest rules and systems to the referees while coaches were shown positive ways to motivate wrestlers, better communication and understand wrestling easily.

"I would like to thank the educators, UWW and Olympic Solidarity for helping us to improve in many ways with this project," Savena said.

The national federation submitted an official proposal for increasing the participation of girls in wrestling along with the active promotion of women's wrestling in the country. The other focus of the federation will be to improve the training conditions for women wrestlers for the 2022 season.

The wrestling federation, under the guidance of UWW, will also educate female wrestlers with information on available scholarships, benefits, tournaments and camps. UWW will develop the wrestlers' skills and focus on positive health, team spirit and self-confidence.

MKDUWW educators Davor PETANJEK (CRO), left, and Georgi SREDIKOV (BUL).

The program will target 22 local clubs and a few schools to encourage more girls to participate in wrestling. The federation will organize five camps for the clubs in five different cities namely Prilep, Kochani, Shtip, Skopje and Radovish. Singlets for the wrestlers, sports equipment, and other sports kits will be funded by the federation.

The aim of the federation is to have a team of experienced trainers for women's wrestling and a team of 100 wrestlers for national-level competition and ultimately have success at the European and Balkan Championships.

Off the mat, the national federation is keen on framing successful and supportive policies and legal frameworks for the promotion of gender equality and women’s rights.

Macedonia is one of the fastest-growing nations in women's wrestling since last year as the sports took roots around a decade back. In 2022, women's wrestling demonstrated its seventh consecutive year of growth nationally with over 100 participants from eight local wrestling clubs. The country already hosted 15 wrestling camps, and national and local championships in all age groups and has won medals in women's wrestling at the European and Balkan Championships.

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The increased participation of girls in wrestling can positively impact on attendance, engagement, opportunities for girls and camps. The sport will also provide opportunities for girls and help the wrestlers establish in the local community, ensure that girls can wrestle girls, reduce the risk of injury and increase support for various clubs and have more active student-athletes.

Increasing the number of girls in wrestling will allow girls to wrestle girls instead of being forced to compete against boys. This is important in terms of the ideals of fair play as well as from a safety perspective. This also builds the idea that wrestling can be supported by the country and attract more sponsors.

#WrestleBucharest

Sadulaev back, Freestyle stars assemble for European Championships

Monday, February 5, 2024 - 08:17 By Vinay Siwach

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BUCHAREST, Romania (February 2) -- Four months after a neck surgery and four years since his last European Championships, Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN) will return to the mat, hoping to win his sixth European title.

In September, Sadulaev pulled out of his semifinal against eventual champion Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN) and underwent surgery. This will be his first international competition as he won the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in the last week of January. 

The European Championships will kick off on February 12 in Bucharest, making the countries participating in the tournament eligible to participate in the European Olympic Qualifier in Baku. The tournament will be available on UWW+ on uww.org and the UWW app.

Apart from Sadulaev, Tokyo Olympic champion  Zavur UGUEV (AIN), world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN), world champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN) and arch-rivals Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will be in action.

Sadulaev, who is yet to qualify for the Paris Olympics, will be checked by world silver medalist in Belgrade Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE), bronze medalist Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO), Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN) and former world silver medalist Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK).

Soon after winning the Yarygin tournament, Sadulaev posted on his Instagram that "he is back on track." A fully fit Sadulaev is expected in Bucharest which will mean that his opponents will have a tough time.

Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) is the defending champion at 86kg. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

Among other Olympic weight classes, 86kg defending champion Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) will be returning since his injury in the Ranking Series in Budapest last year. In all likelihood, he is set to face Tokyo bronze medalist Artur NAIFONOV (AIN) as the two revive their rivalry. The two used to dominate the national scene in Russia.

Another transfer and winner of the season-opening Zagreb Open Ranking Series, Magomed RAMAZANOV (BUL) will also be in action, making it a tough bracket. Ramazanov will be keen on continuing his good form and challenging the established stars at 86kg in Europe.

World bronze medalist Myles AMINE (SMR) is entered and making it to his third straight final at the European Championships will be his top priority. U20 world champion Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA), 79kg world silver medalist Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) and Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR) are also in the bracket.

Taha AKGUL (TUR)Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) are expexted to meet in the 125kg final. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Akgul and Petriashvili, ranking second and fourth in the world, can only meet in the final, setting up another gold-medal bout if both make it to the final.

The two have long dominated the weight classes with the former winning it 10 times since 2012 and Petriasvili winning it twice with the last coming in 2020. Akgul defeated Petriashvili in the final in Zagreb last year.

At the Ranking Series in Zagreb, Petriashvili pulled out of his bout against world champion Amirhossein ZARE (IRI) citing injury. It will be interesting to see if he will return fully fit.

At 57kg, Zavur UGUEV (AIN) will look to put behind the disappointment of finishing without a medal at the World Championships and return to winning ways. Uguev has a lot to fight for as a win in Bucharest will make him the favorite for the gold medal in Paris as well if he goes to the Olympics.

But world bronze medalist Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) will look to win the European title at 57kg as well. The 61kg champion last year has moved down to the Olympic weight and possesses the skills to upset any star wrestler. At the World Championships, he dropped a 16-13 semifinal against Rei HIGUCHI (JPN) before winning a bronze medal.

With many wrestlers deciding not to go through the rigorous process of reducing their weight, the 65kg weight class will see world bronze medalists Shamil MAMEDOV (AIN) and Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM) as the top stars.

The two will be drawn on the same side of the bracket given Tevanyan is ranked third in the world and Mammedov is fifth. Mikyay NAIM (BUL) and Erik ARUSHANIAN (UKR) will also be in the fray to reach the final.

Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)65kg world champion Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN) will be at 70kg in Bucharest. (Photo: UWW / Kostadin Andonov)

The 65kg world champion Muszukajev has moved up to 70kg and will be the favorite to win the gold medal. A definite crowd-puller, Muszukajev will once again be tested for his conditioning. But if his performance at the World Championships is anything to go by, Muszukajev should put on a show of explosive wrestling.

U23 world champions Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN) and Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) will look to upset the world champ if they meet in the bracket. At the U23 World Championships, Sheriev defeated Heybatov 13-3 and the Azerbaijan wrestler will be keen on avenging that loss as well.

At 74kg, three-time champion Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) will start as the favorite but will be tested by Timur BIZHOEV (AIN), a former world bronze medalist. The field also includes Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) and veteran Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR).

Akhmed USMANOV (AIN)World champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN) will be up against a strong field at 79kg. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Most of the regular stars of 74kg have moved up to 79kg, a weight class which will be a tightly-contested category. Multiple world and Olympic medalists are entered in the weight class for the Bucharest tournament. World champion Akhmed USMANOV (AIN), Tokyo silver medalist at 74kg Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN), former world medalist Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), young star and defending champion Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), multiple-time world medalist Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), veteran Hetik CABOLOV (SRB), Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU) and Ramazan SARI (TUR) are a few names who will be vying for the European title.

A face-off between Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN) and Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) is expected at 61kg. MAgomedov lost the 61kg final at the World Championships while Abakarov finished with a bronze medal at 57kg after suffering a loss to Stevan MICIC (SRB). Micic was registered for the European Championships but pulled out.

Boris MAKOEV (SVK) is moving up to 92kg for the European Championships but the weight class already has a few hammers. Magomed KURBANOV (AIN) will have a chance to win the title but world silver medalist Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), bronze medalist Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) and former European champion Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) are also in the mix.