#WrestleAlexandria

Olympians gear up for African & Oceania qualifiers for Paris 2024

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 09:58 By Vinay Siwach

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ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 19) -- Wrestlers from two continents will battle on the mat for 18 Paris Olympic spots at the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers in Alexandria on March 22-24.

All eyes will be on Tokyo Olympic medalists Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) at 68kg in Women's Wrestling and Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) at 67kg in Greco-Roman. The two failed to earn a Paris quota at the World Championships in September but will be the favorite to claim the spot in Alexandria.

The tournament will follow a bracket system and two winners of the semifinals will earn the Paris spot. There will be no gold medal bouts and repechage.

Oborududu won the African Championships on Monday in dominating fashion and has the best chance to qualify. Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY), Tayla FORD (NZL) and African medalist Khadija JLASSI (TUN) will try to stop her and earn a quota for themselves.

For Elsayed, Ishak GHAIOU (ALG) will be the biggest test as he will be randomly drawn in the 67kg bracket. Japan-born Gaku AKAZAWA (SAM) will be seeded number two and cannot face Elsayed.

In other Women's Wrestling weight classes, African champion Mercy GENESIS (NGR) will be primed to win the semifinal at 50kg. Traditional powerhouses in Africa Egypt and Tunisia will be represented by Nada MOHAMED (EGY) and Nourhene HEDHLI (TUN) respectively.

At 53kgm Nigeria will see Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) going for the Paris spot. She won the African Championships gold medal on Monday but the addition of Oceania wrestlers can make things interesting. 

Jessica LAVERS MCBAIN (AUS) will be at 53kg for Australia while Guam has Mia AQUINO (GUM). Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY) and Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN) will also look to win as well.

Nigeria already has won the quota at 57kg through world bronze medalist Odunayo ADEKOUROYE (NGR), leaving others to earn a Paris spot. Irene SYMEONIDIS (AUS), Natacha NABAINA (CMR), Louji YASSIN (EGY), Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) and Faten HAMMAMI (TUN) will have to fight it out for the two spots.

Marwa AMRI (TUN) usually locked the 62kg for Tunisia but the now-retired wrestler will be coaching Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) as she tries to fill the shoes. Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) will be a big test for everyone in this weight class as she won the African Championships.

Two-time world medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY) will be looking for a second trip to the Olympics if she can win the 76kg spot in front of the home crowd. It could go three-way as African silver medalist Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) and now African champion Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) are also entered.

Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY)Tokyo bronze medalist Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) is the favorite at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan) 

Greco-Roman

Tokyo Olympian Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG) will be tested by Moamen MOHAMED (EGY) and Mohamed HKIRI (TUN) as the three look to win the two spots available at 60kg in Greco-Roman.

Egypt and Algeria usually dominate Greco-Roman in Africa which will add pressure on Abd OUAKALI (ALG) and Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN (EGY) who will be the favorite to win the Paris spot at 77kg. Sheng ZHANG (AUS) will be representing Australia.

Two Tokyo Olympians will have a chance to earn another trip to the Olympics as Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) and Mohamed METWALLY (EGY) gear up for a battle in 87kg. Both skipped the African Championships to prepare for the qualifiers.

At 97kg, Fadi ROUABAH (ALG), Mohamed GABR (EGY) and Mohamed MISSAOUI (TUN) have the best chance to win a spot while top seed Maulalo ALOFIPO (SAM) will look to get one through as only six wrestlers are entered in the weight category.

As Egypt already has a quota at 130kg, four wrestlers will battle for the two quotas in this weight class. Hemza HALOUI (ALG), Oussama ASSAD (MAR), Marcus CARNEY (NZL) and Tokyo Olympian Amine GUENNICHI (TUN) will face each other in a round-robin format to decide the two spots.

Amr REDA (EGY)Amr REDA (EGY) will look to repeat as an Olympian. (Photo: UWW / Bayrem Ben Mrad)

Freestyle

Egypt will hope to get all six Freestyle spots for Paris as it fields a strong team. Tokyo Olympian Amr REDA (EGY), backed by the home crowd in Alexandria, has his eyes set on the Paris spot in the 74kg weight class. Reda has proved on several occasions that he is a notch up the field in Africa. However, Bacar NDUM (GBS), a former African Championships silver medalist, will hope to get a spot even if he falls in the same bracket as Reda.

At 57kg, African champion Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) will be the favorite to win the spot along with Tokyo Olympian Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG). Gamal MOHAMED (EGY), Thomas SANTIAGO (GUM) and Suraj SINGH (NZL) will also fancy their chance to win a Paris spot.

Oceania Championships silver medalist Ethan AGUIGUI (GUM) pulled out of the qualifiers at 65kg. But Oceania champion Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS) will be a huge favorite to earn a quota. Omar MOURAD (EGY), Gaku AKAZAWA (SAM), who is also competing in Greco-Roman, and Sylvio DIATTA (SEN) can prove to be dark horses.

Australia can have a second Olympian from Alexandria if Jayden LAWRENCE (AUS) can bring out his best performance and earn a spot at 86kg. He also needs Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG) to fall on the other side of the bracket.

Tokyo Olympian and African champion Benferdjallah has dominated the weight class in Africa and will look to earn a Paris quota for himself. Other names include Ahmed MAHMOUD (EGY) and Imed KADDIDI (TUN).

Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN) was in Tokyo and has a chance to be in Paris if he can earn a quota at 97kg in Alexandria. It will be a similar case for South Africa as former African silver medalist Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA) hopes to win a quota.

Wali KEBIR (ALG), Mostafa ELDERS (EGY) and Anas SAMIR (MAR) will also hope to finish in the top two to earn a ticket.

The two wrestlers who won the 125kg quotas for Tokyo from continental qualifiers are back at it. Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY) and Hamza RAHMANI (TUN) will be the favorite to win the two spots again.

#WrestleSamokov

Kyrgyzstan, Moldova earn chance to end U20 World title drought

Sunday, August 17, 2025 - 18:58 By Vinay Siwach

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SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 17) -- Kyrgyzstan and Moldova earned a chance to end their gold-medal drought at the U20 World Championships.

On the first day of the 2025 World U20 Championships in Samokov, four Freestyle weight classes were in action. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) was the surprised finalist at 74kg and will try to become Kyrgyzstan's first gold medal at the U20 World Championships in 20 years. He will take on European U23 champion Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) in the final.

At 70kg, Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) earned the final and will now try to become Moldova's first U20 world champ in Freestyle since 1999. He will take on returning bronze medalist PJ DUKE (USA) in the gold-medal bout.

The 125kg weight class will see an all-Asian final as Asian U20 champion Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) earned a shot for the world title against Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI), a wrestler over whom Kassimbek has a 3-0 head-to-head record.

Two returning bronze medalists, Duke and Justin RADEMACHER (USA), upgrade their bronze medals from last year and earn themselves a chance to win gold on Monday at 70kg and 97kg respectively.

Akylbekov, who had finished at 17th at 79kg last year, had a dream run on Sunday and ended one for Raul CASO (ITA) in the semifinals. Caso had posted two last-second victories, however, he failed to repeat those heroics in the semifinal against Akylbekov.

Caso was 3-2 and went attack-mode in the final 15 seconds. He almost scored a takedown over Akylbekov who managed to sneak out and then Caso jumped over to take control for a takedown. However, the Kyrgyz wrestler stood up to avoid giving up any points. Italy challenged for two points but lost that on review, giving one more point to Akylbekov.

While Caso was leaving it late in his wins, Akylbekov was contrastingly dominating them. He defeated Nicholas HOOPER (CAN), 12-0, in the opening bout, blanked Titas PIJORAITIS (LTU), 10-0 and then handed Dosszhan KUL GAIYP (KAZ) a 6-1 loss.

Ismail KHANIEV (UWW)Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in the semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

He will now face Khaniev, who earned himself his first world medal at any level. Khaniev defeated Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3, in a very close semifinal than the scoreline suggests.

Khaniev led 3-3 on criteria but Yamaguchi constantly threatened to score in the final 25 seconds. He hit a double-leg attack and planted Khaniev, who somehow managed to not land in danger. In a counter, Khaniev exposed Yamaguchi for two points and took a 5-3 lead. Yamaguchi tried a desperate throw in the final 15 seconds but Khaniev blocked it for two more points to win.

Earlier in the day, Khaniev avenged his European U20 Championships loss to Manuel WAGIN (GER) with a technical superiority win after he had beaten returning silver medalist Ladrion LOCKETT (USA).

Duke had his first big challenge of the day in the semifinals against former world U17 champion Erfan ELAHI (IRI) at 70kg. Duke scored a takedown while Elahi had a point for stepout and Duke's passivity. Duke's two-point scoring move gave him the criteria.

However, Elahi somehow thought he has the criteria and did not think of attacking in the final 30 seconds. When the bout was over, Elahi celebrated as if he had won only to realize that he has lost 2-2.

Duke will look to win his first a world title before wrestling at the senior World Championships later in September. He will take on Gaidarli for the gold-medal after the Moldovan won his semifinal 7-4 against Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE).

Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) reached the 70kg final in Samokov. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Gaidarli became the first Moldovan Freestyle wrestler to reach the final at U20 Worlds since 2019 after a stunningly good run in Samokov. He defeated European U20 champion Goga OTINASHVILI (GEO), 13-3, avenging his loss from Carole, Italy.

In the semifinals, he scored three takedowns in the second period against Aghazada to win 7-4, bettering his 18th-place finish from last year and earning a chance to end the gold-medal drought for Moldova.

Returning bronze medalist at 97kg Rademacher defeated European U20 champion Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO) in the semifinals and will now try to win gold. Rademacher led 4-3 at the break extended his lead with a takedown for two points to start the second period, add another go-behind and single-leg to takedown to lead 10-3.

Petriashvili got an attack for two points but Rademacher was relentless in his wrestling and scored three more takedowns to win 16-5.

Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW)Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) survived to win 11-9 against VISHAL (IND) in the 97kg semifinal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

For the gold medal, he will face Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) who survived, with some help, for an 11-9 win over VISHAL (IND) who had Magomedov in all sorts of trouble. Magomedov led 10-4 when Vishal mounted a comeback against an absolutely broken Magomedov. He scored a takedown and Magomedov was cautioned for a singlet-pull foul which made it 10-7.

As the bout was restart in par terre, India challenged for two more points but the referee had blown the whistle before control from Vishal. That challenge gave enough breathing time to Magomedov to managed to hang on to his lead and win 11-9.

Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) celebrates after winning his 125kg semifinal against Cole MIRASOLA (USA). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Kassimbek had a very dominant semifinal as he defeated Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0, inside the first period. He had two excellent counter takedowns and then locked up Mirasola's legs around his head and turns him twice. He finished things with a double-leg takedown.

Kassimbek has lost to two World U17 Championships finals before but he will have a good chance to win his first world title. He will take on Mohammad Nezhad, a wrestler he has defeated three times before.

The Iranian denied former world U17 champion Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE) after a 1-1 victory in the semifinal. Mohmmad Nezhad got the one point for passivity in the second period which gave him the criteria.

Mohammad Nezhad lost to Kassimbek for the first time in 2023 Asian U17 Championships final, 8-1, then at the same tournament in 2024, 2-2 in the semifinals. His third loss to Kassimbek came in the semifinals of the 2024 World U17 Championships, 4-3.

RESULTS

70kg
GOLD: PJ DUKE (USA) vs. Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) 

SF 1: Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA) df. Nurlan AGHAZADA (AZE), 7-4
SF 2: PJ DUKE (USA) df. Ebrahim ELAHI (IRI), 2-2

74kg
GOLD: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) vs. Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ)

SF 1: Adilet AKYLBEKOV (KGZ) df. Raul CASO (ITA), 4-2
SF 2: Ismail KHANIEV (UWW) df. Kanata YAMAGUCHI (JPN), 7-3

97kg
GOLD: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) vs. Justin RADEMACHER (USA)

SF 1: Justin RADEMACHER (USA) df. Konstantine PETRIASHVILI (GEO), 16-5
SF 2: Magomedgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. VISHAL (IND), 11-9

125kg
GOLD: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) vs. Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI)

SF 1: Abolfazl MOHAMMAD NEZHAD (IRI) df. Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE), 1-1
SF 2: Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ) df. Cole MIRASOLA (USA), 11-0