Beach wrestling

Six Tips for Watching Beach Wrestling

Friday, October 5, 2018 - 22:24 By Marc Berman

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SARIGERME, Turkey (October 6th and 7th) -- Beach Wrestling is known for being a fast paced and exciting style, it is always a favorite amongst competitors. On the line this weekend is a world champion title and qualification to the 2019 Beach Games in San Diego next summer. Here is a quick guide to better understand the action when it hits the beach this weekend.

  1. The competition takes place in a 7-meter circle of sand
     
  2. Bracketing is determined by the athletes drawing lots to determine their position in the bracket
     
  3. The match is 1 period of 3 minutes for all divisions
     
  4. 1 point is awarded to a wrestler if they bring any part of the opponent’s body to the ground aside from the hands or if any part of the opponent’s body goes outside the competition area
     
  5. 2 points awarded when a wrestler manages to expose opponents back to the ground during a takedown
     
  6. 3 points wins the match. If there is a tie at the end of the match then the winner is decided by the highest value of holds, last point scored, weight of competitors (lighter taken the victory) or the lost number pulled during the drawing of lots.

Catch all the action live on United World Wrestling!

Beach wrestling

National Champion in Freestyle and Beach Style Goes for First World Title

Saturday, October 6, 2018 - 16:48 By Marc Berman

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SARIGERME, Turkey (October 6th and 7th) -- When Huseyin BAKIR (TUR) began wrestling at age 11 in his childhood home of Istanbul, he never imagined that 8 years later he would already be a national champion in freestyle and beach wrestling and competing for his first world title in beach wrestling.

“I never thought to wrestle in the beach style. My focus has been on freestyle but, a month ago I came to Sarigerme to see my cousin. The national championship was going on the same time and I decided to try.” Bakir was able to capture the national title and qualify for the World Championship.

The transition between styles has been an interesting one for Bakir. “ The beach style is completely different than freestyle. I normally like to shoot in and attack my opponents legs but, you can not do that in the beach ( point awarded to opponent if the knee touches the sand during a takedown attempt). The time of the match is less so, the strategy changes. Wrestling is wrestling and I have trained many years so the change in style is not impossible to overcome.”

Another plus of competing on the beach for Bakir is the beautiful weather and wonderful beach. “ So perfect here, the weather, the beach and after the competition we will swim.”

Don’t miss Bakir tomorrow in the medal rounds. Catch him and the rest of the competition live on United World Wrestling.