Refugee Day

With Support of Community, Al Obaidi is Painting a Bright Future

By United World Wrestling Press

INZING, Austria (June 20) -- Aker Al Obaidi had been working as a painter for two years before Benedikt "Mo" Ernst finally convinced the young Iraqi refugee to move to the small town of Inzing, Austria.

The small town, population 4000, intimidated the former Baghdad resident. He'd always known bigger cities, and found comfort in wrestling. 

To help, Coach "Mo" furnished an apartment for Al Obaidi and set up the young Greco-Roman grappler with a series of training opportunities. After a few weeks of acclimating to the new city, Al Obaidi invited Mo over for dinner and showed him the job he'd done painting the apartment.

It was not what Coach was expecting. Greeting him in the living room was the large five-ring logo of the Olympic Games.

"I painted the Rings on this wall because I want to see them every day," said Al Obaidi. "This is my motivation to work as hard as I can and reach my goal!“

Shortly after painting the Rings on his wall AL Obaidi and Coach Mo received word from the IOC that they had chosen Al Obaidi for the IOC Refugee Athletic Scholarship and would be supporting his Olympic journey.

Members of the Austrian national team who live in Inzing have helped provide Al Obaidi the training he needs to prepare for the Olympic Games, as he also attends every camp and tournament of the Austrian wrestling federation.

Al Obaidi's training during COVID has been difficult since he's not allowed to train in the training hall. Instead his coach has organized a special program for him to maintain his shape.

"He is one of the motivated guys I have," said Mo. "He has developed his strength and endurance very well during this hard time."

Like most of the wrestling world Al Obaidi isn't quite sure what will happen with COVID-19, but for now he plans to start wrestling training once cleared by the Austrian government - maybe as early as July.

The plans then include training camps and possibly trips to the U23 Europeans in Bucharest at the beginning of October and the U23 World Championship in Finland. If he's very lucky with travel arrangements, maybe some international training camps in Hungary, Germany and Ukraine between tournaments.

"He works hard and I know if Aker qualifies for the Olympics in Tokyo 2021," said Mo. "His dream will come true."

#WrestleVungTau

U17 Asian Championships 2025 Entry List

By United World Wrestling Press

VUNG TAU, Vietnam (June 13) -- The U17 Asian Championships will be held in Vung Tau, Vietnam from June 23 to 27.

The tournament will be held after the U23 Asian Championships at the same venue. For U23 Asian Championships entries, click here.

For full schedule of U23 and U17 Asian Championships, click here. All the matches will be live on uww.org and the UWW App.

Note: Entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draw of each style. Refer to UWW Arena for the draw.

U17 Asian Championships

45kg
Jiarui ZHANG (CHN)
SHIVAM (IND)
Benyamin ASHOFTEH (IRI)
Jumpei FURUYA (JPN)
Sabyrzhan RAKHATOV (KAZ)
Arnur NURSAIDOV (KGZ)
Anartulga BEKHBAT (MGL)
Hesuka WICKRAMAARACHCHIGE (SRI)
Isgender HUDAYBERDIYEV (TKM)
Mirjalol MUKAMMILOV (UZB)
Dinh Long NGUYEN (VIE)

48kg
Shu YUAN (CHN)
MAHSUN (IND)
Sina BOUSTANI KALATEH (IRI)
Tsubasa YAMAYA (JPN)
Temirlan MURAT (KAZ)
Dovudbek BAKHADIROV (KGZ)
Dagvadorj JARGALSAIKHAN (MGL)
Kadambu APPUHAMILAGE (SRI)
Kemal CHARYYEV (TKM)
Shakhobidin NURMANOV (UZB)

51kg
Ziqin WEI (CHN)
Dhanraj JAMNIK (IND)
Sina ORDOU (IRI)
Omar MUSLEH (JOR)
Yuki MAEDA (JPN)
Kemel KAZHTAY (KAZ)
Sadyr KAIYPBEKOV (KGZ)
Yijun HONG (KOR)
Anar ODBAYAR (MGL)
Ashan WICKRAMA PATHIRANAGE (SRI)
Thanwarak KAEWTHIPMONTREE (THA)
Muhammetaly PARAHADOV (TKM)
Ulugbek RASHIDOV (UZB)

55kg
Sarwar SARWARI (AFG)
Wenlong LI (CHN)
NISHANT (IND)
Reza BARARI (IRI)
Yamato FURUSAWA (JPN)
Ibrahim YSKAKBEK (KAZ)
Zhakshylyk BOROBAEV (KGZ)
Hoisik JEONG (KOR)
Batshagai MUNKHZUL (MGL)
Wishwa DHARMEYAGE (SRI)
Umar RAKHIMOV (TJK)
Abdyljelil TEJENOV (TKM)
Jyun Hua JHONG (TPE)
Abdumalik JALOLDINOV (UZB)

60kg
Chan Ou Dom PHANN (CAM)
Jiaming LI (CHN)
SITENDER (IND)
Arian MEHRALIZADEH (IRI)
Ishaq MUSLEH (JOR)
Haruto KITAMURA (JPN)
Bekassyl ASSAMBEK (KAZ)
Ulukman ZHEKSHENKULOV (KGZ)
Siwon KIL (KOR)
Enkhmunkh SAINKHUU (MGL)
Travis YEO (SGP)
Mohotti MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Dovletgeldi TALYPOV (TKM)
Fakhriddin NASRIDDINOV (UZB)
Viet Quy BUI (VIE)

65kg
Jiale YANG (CHN)
Gourav PUNIA (IND)
Morteza HAJ MOLLA (IRI)
Ryohei MARUTA (JPN)
Zamir DANIYAR (KAZ)
Adisbek ALTYNBEKOV (KGZ)
Kanghyun GO (KOR)
Tserendondov DORJPUREV (MGL)
Dilmith FERNANDO (SRI)
Abdumuqit NABIEV (TJK)
Umyt GYLYJOV (TKM)
Yu En ZHOU (TPE)
Shokhiddin ALIEV (UZB)

71kg
Rithypichetr THAT (CAM)
Laiao LIU (CHN)
Sujay TANPURE (IND)
Arsham VAHABIAN (IRI)
Abdelrahman MARAFI (JOR)
Kyosuke NAKANO (JPN)
Nurtay NAROV (KAZ)
Aibek ERALIEV (KGZ)
Taeeun LEE (KOR)
Battogtokh BAVUUDORJ (MGL)
Janith KASTHURIARACHCHIGE (SRI)
Phanuphat CHAILOES (THA)
Idris BAKHROMOV (TJK)
Ali ESENOV (TKM)
Farrukhbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)
Duc Truong PHAN (VIE)

80kg
Hanze ZHANG (CHN)
Saurabh YADAV (IND)
Parsa KARAMI (IRI)
Tomohiro TANAKA (JPN)
Dinmukhammed KASSYMBEK (KAZ)
Ruslan ASANOV (KGZ)
Yechan KIM (KOR)
Buyantogtokh BYAMBADORJ (MGL)
Cristian Marc LOH (SGP)
Alirizo BAKHROMOV (TJK)
Arslan AZYMBERDIYEV (TKM)
Hsing Yu WANG (TPE)
Bunyod RUFATOV (UZB)
Vinh Dat NGUYEN (VIE)

92kg
Xinyu ZHANG (CHN)
Arjun RUHIL (IND)
Amirali ALIZADEH (IRI)
Noriyuki ASANO (JPN)
Beibarys YERGALI (KAZ)
Nurbol ZAIYRBEKOV (KGZ)
Wangyu CHOE (KOR)
Saruul ERDENETSOGT (MGL)
Mukhammadsobit SOBITOV (TJK)
Muhammetdurdy MUHAMMETDURDYYEV (TKM)
Asadbek ERKINJONOV (UZB)
Quang Khai TRUONG (VIE)

110kg
Zhenyu WANG (CHN)
LACKY (IND)
Amirhossein NAGHDALIPOUR (IRI)
Tomoki NAKAZAWA (JPN)
Riza IZAKHAR (KAZ)
Akzhol BARPYBEKOV (KGZ)
Taeyun PARK (KOR)
Taivanbat AMGALAN (MGL)
Herbert MENDIS (SRI)
Shageldi NURYYEV (TKM)
Yu Chiao CHUANG (TPE)
Behruz ASHIROV (UZB)

Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)World U17 bronze and Asian U17 champion Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) will look to defend his 71kg title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari) 

Greco-Roman

45kg
Jiawudati YE ERXIATE (CHN)
Yash KAMANNA (IND)
Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI)
Kaima OGASAWARA (JPN)
Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ)
Baigeldi OMURBEKOV (KGZ)
Farid KAROMOV (UZB)

48kg
Fuhua KANG (CHN)
Aditya JADHAV (IND)
Amirmohammad HAJIVANDSAVAKI (IRI)
Amro ABU RMILAH (JOR)
Jukiya YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ)
Abdullaziz MOMINOV (KGZ)
Muhammad GHAFUROV (TJK)
Rejep JORAYEV (TKM)
Bunyod HASANOV (UZB)

51kg
Xizhe YAO (CHN)
Yuvraj KAMANNA (IND)
Amir HAJIVAND (IRI)
Sanad NAGHOUJ (JOR)
Raiki NISHIMURA (JPN)
Sunkar ZARAP (KAZ)
Islam KURBANOV (KGZ)
Junryeong PARK (KOR)
Suriyan SONGMUEANGSUK (THA)
Mukam GURBANOV (TKM)
Jing Jie HUANG (TPE)
Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)

55kg
JIALAERGA (CHN)
Ashish KUMAR (IND)
Amirreza TAHMASBPOUR (IRI)
Adam ABU FARE (JOR)
Kiichi OI (JPN)
Nurali ASKAR (KAZ)
Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ)
Sungsoo KIM (KOR)
Anupong CHUMANEE (THA)
Damir OTAEV (TJK)
Sadriddin TULKINBOEV (UZB)

60kg
Ziming LIU (CHN)
RITESH (IND)
Abolfazl ZARE (IRI)
Hamza FARES (JOR)
Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Damir AKAN (KAZ)
Emir EMILOV (KGZ)
Jaewoong JEONG (KOR)
Makhmadradzhab SAFAROV (TJK)
Tai Yu LIN (TPE)
Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB)
Minh LAM (VIE)

65kg
Yunqi CHU (CHN)
ANUJ (IND)
Abolfazl SHIRI (IRI)
Zaid NAGHOUJ (JOR)
Kohaku OTSU (JPN)
Dosbol SHAMIL (KAZ)
Nurbek DZHUMABAEV (KGZ)
Donggyun PARK (KOR)
Borgil TUVSHINBAATAR (MGL)
Amirjon OBIDOV (TJK)
Elman MAMEDOV (TKM)
Xusan GIEZIDINOV (UZB)

71kg
VINIT (IND)
Hossein KAZEMI (IRI)
Shinshiro UEHARA (JPN)
Islam GASSYMOV (KAZ)
Kubanych ANARBEKOV (KGZ)
Seonwoo KIM (KOR)
Alisher RUZIMADOV (TJK)
Atamyrat VELLEKOV (TKM)
Hao CHANG (TPE)
Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)
Van Dan AU (VIE)

80kg
Yuxiang TENG (CHN)
Sachin KUMAR (IND)
Taha Javid NOURI (IRI)
Ryohei MARUYAMA (JPN)
Mardanbek MAKHKAMBAYEV (KAZ)
Asylbek DOOLOTBEKOV (KGZ)
Taekyung CHOI (KOR)
Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK)
Begench KAKALYYEV (TKM)
Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB)

92kg
Yang JIN (CHN)
NITIN (IND)
Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Hiroya KITO (JPN)
Adilet TOISHY (KAZ)
Sanjar STALBEKOV (KGZ)
Suin HWANG (KOR)
Suphawat SOPRAKHON (THA)
Zong Han WU (TPE)
Fakhrikamol KOMILJONOV (UZB)

110kg
Chuanqi WEI (CHN)
HARDEEP (IND)
Yazdan Reza DELROUZ (IRI)
Houei SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Baktur SOVETKHAN (KAZ)
Umar ORMANOV (KGZ)
Dongyeon KANG (KOR)
Galt Erdene GANKHUYAG (MGL)
Aslan AGADADAYEV (TKM)
Abduboriy KOZIMJONOV (UZB)

KAJAL (IND)World and Asian U17 champion KAJAL (IND) will lead India's charge. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Women's Wrestling

40kg
CHESHTA (IND)
Wakana NAKAZONO (JPN)
Inzhu BAKKOZHA (KAZ)
Asema ASANGARYEVA (KGZ)
Anudari JARGALSAIKHAN (MGL)
Sanudi ASHINIKA (SRI)
Shokhista SHONAZAROVA (UZB)

43kg
Mengyi LI (CHN)
RACHANA (IND)
Mira HIGASHI (JPN)
Lyubov VORONTSOVA (KAZ)
Aizhan KABYLBEKOVA (KGZ)
Enkh Uchiral DAVAAJARGAL (MGL)
Nethmi MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Charinrat KUNCHARIN (THA)
Mukhlisa MASHARIPOVA (UZB)
Ngoc NGUYEN THI (VIE)

46kg
Leanghy PHAT (CAM)
Yue YUAN (CHN)
Rutuja GURAV (IND)
Koharu AKUTSU (JPN)
Anel BURKUTBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiana NIIIAZBEKOVA (KGZ)
Eunchae OH (KOR)
Gansuvd OTGONBAATAR (MGL)
Yohani MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Yan Shan LI (TPE)
Mashkhura ABDUMUSAEVA (UZB)
Kieu Trang DINH (VIE)

49kg
Sreypin MUN (CAM)
Tong ZHANG (CHN)
ANJALI (IND)
Saika UCHIDA (JPN)
Saniya SOLTANGALI (KAZ)
Aiana DUISHENKULOVA (KGZ)
Enerel MUNKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Heba MOHAMMED JBOUR (SGP)
Thanumi SAMARAKOON (SRI)
Yu Hsi CHENG (TPE)
Mekhribonu KUDAYNAZAROVA (UZB)
Ngoc Thao Thom BUI (VIE)

53kg
Hongli WU (CHN)
SAARIKA (IND)
Juna HOSAKA (JPN)
Dinara DAUYLKYZY (KAZ)
Baktygul ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Yerin CHOI (KOR)
Enkhdari GANPUREV (MGL)
Bi Dou A WAI (TPE)
Ulbosyn KADIRBERGENOVA (UZB)
Thi Kieu Trang NHU (VIE)

57kg
Xiaohan XU (CHN)
MONI (IND)
Hisaki WATANABE (JPN)
Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ)
Adinai BAIZKULOVA (KGZ)
Yeeun KANG (KOR)
Uranbayar BALJINNYAM (MGL)
Sithmini CHAMATHKA (SRI)
Pansa SEDGWICK (THA)
Ling En LI (TPE)
Feruza KAIRATDINOVA (UZB)
Thi Hong Hanh NGUYEN (VIE)

61kg
YANGJIBAZONG (CHN)
Tina PUNIA (IND)
Saeko KAWASE (JPN)
Zhaidar MUKAT (KAZ)
Akylai CHYNYBAEVA (KGZ)
Ariunzul BOLDBAATAR (MGL)
Dinadi MAHINDA (SRI)
Yu Ting LIU (TPE)
Laylo ORAZBOEVA (UZB)
Thuy Nhung PHAM (VIE)

65kg
Yiqing XIAO (CHN)
Ashvini VISHNOI (IND)
Yuna ISHII (JPN)
Nuraiym SAIAKHMET (KAZ)
Asema ANARKULOVA (KGZ)
Anujin ERKHEMBAATAR (MGL)
Dinugi YASASNI (SRI)
Yun Hsuan CHAO (TPE)
Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB)
Thi Thuy Dung DOAN (VIE)

69kg
Jiaqi ZHU (CHN)
MANISHA (IND)
Utano SUZUKI (JPN)
Shakhizada DAULETZHAN (KAZ)
Aiana ASAMALIKOVA (KGZ)
Bom LEE (KOR)
Erdenebulgan LKHAGVASUREN (MGL)
Xin Yu MA (TPE)
Shakhsanem TORENIYAZOVA (UZB)

73kg
Wenjin QIU (CHN)
KAJAL (IND)
Juri MAKI (JPN)
Ulpan IKHSANOVA (KAZ)
Meruert OKTIABREVA (KGZ)
Siilegmaa SUKHBAATAR (MGL)
Sha Fei CHUAN (TPE)
Dilrabo DULLIEVA (UZB)
Thi Lien DUONG (VIE)