#WrestleSofia

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

By Taylor Miller

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

 

#Grappling

U15, U17, U20 & Veteran Grappling World Championships 2025 Guide

By United World Wrestling Press

LOUTRAKI, Greece (October 30) -- The Grappling World Championships in U15, U17, U20 and Veteran will begins in Loutraki, Greece from November 1 to 4.

The tournament will begins on November 1 with U15 and U20 competition in Grappling No-Gi with the medal bouts also scheduled on the same day.

Grappling

On November 2, the competition will be held in U15 and U20 age-group in Grappling Gi with finals scheduled on the same day.

The U17 and Veterans competition will begin on November 3 with Grappling No-Gi with all matches, including medal matches, to be conducted on the day.

The final day -- November 4 -- will see all bouts in U17 and Veterans in Grappling Gi.

All the matches will be live on uww.org. Follow UWWCombat on Instagram.