Development

South Asia in search of Women Wrestling High Performance Coach

By United World Wrestling Press

Position Summary: High Performance Training center is seeking a highly motivated, successful coach to lead the Women’s Freestyle Programme. As the head coach, you will work in close collaboration with our multi-disciplinary staff. You will strategize, innovate and implement the technical and tactical training to increase the performance capacities of the female wrestlers. You must be driven, practical, open minded and forward thinking, you will tailor and drive the delivery of your coaching aligned to key responsibilities as outlined below;

Key Responsibilities 

Strategic Leadership 

  1. Work as part of the Women Wrestling Programme Coaching Team in the delivery of the Performance strategy, aligned with the centers strategic goals.
  • Work as part of the Wrestling Coaching Team in the implementation of improving the female Wrestler’s probabilities of success to ensure athlete progression and medal performances in the Women’s Programme.
  • Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of athlete performance, using data insights to inform decisions and refine strategies.
  • Contribute to the Talent Identification, Talent Recruitment and Talent Confirmation strategies in the recruitment campaigns for talented Indian Wrestlers.  

Athlete and Team Development  

  • Work as part of the Wrestling Coaching Team in the design and overseeing of Individual Athlete Plans (IAPs) through a multi-disciplinary tailored to the technical, tactical, physical, and psychological needs of athletes to qualify for and perform at a future Olympic Games.
  • Foster a culture of Commitment, Ownership, Responsibility and Excellence in alignment with the institute CORE performance values. 
  • Ensure daily, weekly, monthly training session plans are designed within a performance plan which ensure clarity of session purpose and session intensities.
  • All sessions are required to be periodised in a way that manages the training load to achieve a balance of intensive progression but reduces the risk of athlete injury.
  • Ensure training camps, competitions, and other key events are planned and executed effectively, adhering to health & safety and safeguarding policies.
  • Ensure compliance with safeguarding, health & safety, anti-doping, and data protection policies across all IIS Judo activities. 

Key achievement targets

  • Achievement of athlete progression milestones and medal-winning performances at the Olympic Games, World Championship, Continental Games and Commonwealth Games.
  • Number of athletes transitioning from Junior to Senior performance standards meeting medal targets at Junior /Junior World Championships.
  • Advanced knowledge of Olympic-level Wrestling technical and tactical strategies.
  • Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build and maintain trust with athletes, coaches, and stakeholders.
  • Able to communicate in English (written and verbal) Current safeguarding certification and enhanced background clearance.

HIRING PAY RANGE: Salary dependent on experience 

Application Process: 
Interested candidates should send a cover letter,resume, and/or questions to:

  1. Rishabh.252001@icloud.com

Wishing you a successful application.

2026 Muhamet Malo

Muhamet Malo Flashback: Relive 2025 Ranking Series Stop in Tirana

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (February 13) -- There is a good chance that the gold medalist at the Muhamet Malo 2026 Ranking Series event will have a good season. It happened in 2025. Most of the gold medalists from 2025 managed to win respective continental or world medals.With the second Ranking Series of 2026 once again in Tirana, here's a flashback to the one in 2025. Follow the 2026 Muhamet Malo Ranking Series on uww.org, Instagram, Facebook, X, YouTube.

MUHAMET MALO 2026 RANKING SERIES ENTRIES

WATCH ALL FINALS FROM 2025 MUHAMET MALO RANKING SERIES HERE

Freestyle

Iran brought a solid team to Tirana last year with Olympic silver medalists Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI) and Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI). It won four gold medals with both Amouzad and Zare winning at 65kg and 125kg, respectively. Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI) won at 92kg with rather ease and at 57kg, Ali MOMENI (IRI) got a fall in the final.

Kaeisi TANABE (JPN) was also in the field at 65kg. However, he went on to lose his semifinal against Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ) and then the bronze medal bout to Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ).

But the most memorable win was that of Arash YOSHIDA (JPN), who announced himself as a big contender at 97kg, first time in Tirana. Wrestling world champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) in the semifinals, Yoshida stunned the crowd in Tirana with a thrilling 5-5 victory over the American wrestler.

Snyder led 4-1 at the break and then added another point in the second period. But Yoshida hit a cut back and then a turn to take a 5-5 criteria lead which he held on to until time expired in the match. The winning firmly put Yoshida as one of the top 97kg wrestlers in the world.

Two other Japanese stars also won gold medals last year. Takara SUDA (JPN) was the best at 61kg displaying some tricky wrestling as he won gold while Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN) kept it simple to win the gold medal at 70kg.

It was also the return of Chermen VALIEV (ALB) since he won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024. He did not disappoint the home fans, capturing the 74kg gold medal in an actionless 2-0 win over Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK).

Greco-Roman

An Olympic final rematch occurred inn Tirana in Greco-Roman. At 87kg, Olympic champion Semen NOVIKOV (BUL) and Alireza MOHMEDI (IRI) clashed in the quarterfinals. Mohmedi had lost to Novikov in the Paris 2024 final but he turned it around in Tirana, blanking Novikov 5-0. The heated match included some words exchanged between the two at the end of the bout.

Mohmedi won't stop there. He defeated Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB), 5-1, in the semifinal and later went on to win the gold medal once David LOSONCZI (HUN) injury defaulted in the final.

Both Komarov and Mohmedi would later meet in the final of the World Championships in Zagreb. This time, Komarov avenged that loss from Tirana and won the gold medal while Mohmedi was heartbroken with the loss.

Tirana was also the start of a resurgence of Kerem KAMAL (TUR). After some frustrating years at 60kg, Kamal began the new season at 63kg and won gold. It set the tone for 2025 as he went on to win two more Ranking Series gold medals and became the European champion at 63kg.

Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) made his senior debut at 55kg in Tirana. He won his first two bouts before falling in the final against Emre MUTLU (TUR). Lolua had won silver medal at the U17 World Championships before 2025 but he would later win silver at the U20 Worlds and then become world champion at 55kg in one of the exciting matches in 2025 against U20 world champion Payam AHMADI (IRI).

At 130kg, world champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) remained a rock and won gold without giving up any action points in his four bouts.

Women's Wrestling

As is the theme in Women's Wrestling, Japan won the most gold medals in Tirana as well. Out of the 10 golds, Japan won six medals.

Moe KIYOOKA (JPN) was making her international debut at 53kg after winning gold at World Championships at 55kg. She began well but had a scare in the semifinals against Lillia MALANCHUK (UKR). She even trailed in the semifinals before winning 15-8. She later defeated Andreea ANA (ROU) in the final, 6-0, to capture the gold medal.

At 55kg, Haruna MURAYAMA (JPN) was solid throughout, winning the gold medal with ease. Umi ITO (JPN) had a similar outing as she swept the field to claim the 50kg gold medal.

Sakura ONISHI (JPN) gave a glimpse of her 2025 in Tirana. The teenager won gold medal in Tirana at 59kg and she continued her form winning U20 world gold and then the senior world title in September.

Another Tirana gold medalist who became world champion in Zagreb was Ami ISHII (JPN) at 68kg. A world champion at 72kg in 2024, Ishii moved down to 68kg and was instantly successful. She defeated Zelu LI (CHN), 8-2, in the final. She won the world title in Zagreb, winning five bouts and giving up only three points.

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) was another gold medalist for Japan. She defeated Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) in the semifinals and faced Irina RINGACI (MDA) for the gold medal. Ringaci had earlier defeated her, 7-5, in the round robin bout. Morikawa fell behind 6-3 in the final as well but Ringaci pulled out injured midway through the final, giving Morikawa the gold medal.

The two also met at the World Championships but Morikawa would stamp her authority in Zagreb with a 10-0 win over Ringaci. She won the gold medal by beating Alina KASABEIVA (UWW), 8-0.

At 72kg, Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ) won the Nelson bracket that also included a 3-1 win over Alla BELINSKA (UKR) who later went on to win the gold medal at the World Championships.

Veteran Samantha STEWART (CAN) made the tournament memorable for herself winning the gold medal with three wins, including two via falls.