#WrestleSofia

Sonam Wins Second World Title, Japan Captures Three Gold at #WrestleSofia

Thursday, August 1, 2019 - 19:22 By Taylor Miller

Share this article

Photo of Sonam SONAM (IND).

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Sonam SONAM (IND) earned her second Cadet World title and third-straight Cadet World medal on Thursday night, winning the 65 kg weight class in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Sonam shut down Binbin XIANG (CHN) in the gold-medal match, scoring a four-point takedown in the second period for a 7-1 victory. With the win, Sonam added to her 2017 Cadet World gold and 2018 Cadet World bronze

Japan earned three World champions out of five weight classes.

The first champion of the night for Japan was Nagisa HARADA (JPN), who knocked off returning World champion Luchana BEKBAULOVA (RUS) in the 43 kg gold match.

Harada scored in the first period on a step out, and in the last few seconds of the match, she picked up a takedown to ice the match and take a 3-1 win.

Japan also won the next two weights, 49 kg and 57 kg.

At 49 kg, 2018 U15 Asian champion Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) defeated Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA), 5-2. Rodriguez led 2-1 in the final minute, but Miyooka scored two takedowns to for an insurmountable 5-2 lead and eventual win.

Winning gold at 57 kg was Ruka NATAMI (JPN), who also faced an American in the finals, Skylar HATTENDORF (USA). Natami collected a takedown in each period for a 4-0 shutout, giving Japan its third World champion of the night.

In the last gold match of the night, 2019 Cadet European champion outlasted 2019 Cadet Asian champion Yifeng LU (CHN) in a 4-3 decision.

Action continues tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) live on unitedworldwrestling.org.

Finals matchups
43 kg
GOLD: Nagisa HARADA (JPN) dec. Luchana BEKBAULOVA (RUS), 3-0
BRONZE: Zerda DEMIR (TUR) dec. Nazik MIRLAN KYZY (KGZ), 6-0
BRONZE: Aida KERYMOVA (UKR) df. Madhuri PATEL (IND), fall

49 kg
GOLD: Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) dec. Cristelle RODRIGUEZ (USA), 5-2
BRONZE: Valeryia KAPUSTSINA (BLR) dec. Yung Hsun LIN (TPE), 2-1
BRONZE: Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL) dec. Xiaomin XIE (CHN), 6-6

57 kg
GOLD: Ruka NATAMI (JPN) dec. Skylar HATTENDORF (USA), 4-0
BRONZE: Alina KASABIEVA (RUS) dec. Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE), 8-0
BRONZE: Krystyna SOKOLOVSKA (UKR) df. Yifan TANG (CHN), 12-2

65 kg
GOLD: Sonam SONAM (IND) dec. Binbin XIANG (CHN), 7-1
BRONZE: Ekaterina GLUKHAREVA (RUS) df. Khadija JLASSI (TUN), 10-0
BRONZE: Rushana ABDIRASULOVA (UZB) dec. Veronica BRASCHI (ITA), 4-2

73 kg
GOLD: Olga KOZYREVA (RUS) dec. Yifeng LU (CHN), 4-3
BRONZE: Julia FRIDLUND (SWE) dec. Pooja POOJA (IND), 3-2
BRONZE: Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN) dec. Nazar BATIR (TUR), 7-0

 

Development

UWW Training PE Teachers at ISF Gymasiade in Bahrain

Monday, December 2, 2024 - 12:18 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

Bahrain (December 2) – United World Wrestling partnered with the International School Sports Federation (ISF) to train PE teachers at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. The ISF Gymnasiade event took place from 23-31 October. This annual event involves competitions for sport school athletes over 26 sports. Wrestling has been a part of this event in each edition. During the Gymnasiade, ISF also provides training to local PE teachers to potentially implement more sports within their curriculum.

UWW was fortunate to be able to provide training sessions to the PE teachers on using the Wrestle4Fun curriculum. The training was led by UWW Educators Ahmed Khedhri (TUN) and Rafael Galva (PUR).

The training was held on 25 October and included 51 participants. The training included 2-hour theoretical and 2-hour practical sessions, with participants actively participating in Wrestle4Fun activities. These activities provided the participants with the advantages of adding wrestling to physical education. “Collaborating with PE teachers provided a very valuable experience. I hope this experience will become more common, allowing wrestling to be part of the physical education curriculum,” said Mr. Khedhri.

Mr. Galva also participated in the ISF International Educational Forum. During the forum, Mr. Galva discussed Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle to School Kids. He also spoke about the importance of positive role modeling from parents and coaches. 

ISFParticipants go through the Fun and Skills Zone at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Mr. Galva and Mr. Khedhri also conducted sessions at the Fun and Skills Zone throughout the event. This was a chance for young athletes to try wrestling games and activities. This included athletes from many different sports and countries.

The wrestling competition was held on October 28-30 and included participation in all three styles. The competition had 321 athletes from 18 countries participating. 

Wrestle4Fun is developmentally appropriate for all age levels and designed to support girls’ and boys’ physical literacy journeys. It has five stages based on different developmental levels. Each stage has 15 lessons. In total, there are 75 lessons with over 200 games and activities. The entire Wrestle4Fun programme can be found on the Academy platform.

The UWW Academy can be found at https://academy.uww.org/.