Refugee Day

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

Saturday, June 20, 2020 - 11:58 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

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."

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar Open 2025: Day 1 highlights and recap

Thursday, May 29, 2025 - 02:33 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 29) -- The third Ranking Series event, Ulaanbaatar Open, gets underway in the Mongolian capital. Seven Greco-Roman weight classes will be in action on Thursday.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | ULAANBAATAR OPEN PREVIEW

13:05: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) goes big from par terre and scores eight points before getting two points for a leg foul from Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) to win 11-0. He will take on Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final. Yilmaz had beaten Maksatbek Uulu 11-3 in the round-robin bout earlier

13:02: Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) takes just a minute to beat Nishant PHOGAT (IND) 9-0 in the first semifinal at 77kg. He will wrestle for gold.

13:00: The semifinals, only two in 77kg, will begin now. Nishant PHOGAT (IND) vs Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) and Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) vs. Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) 

12:20: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) gets the par terre and then turn Mustafa SAHIN (TUR) for a 3-0 lead in his Round 5 bout at 72kg. He then defends his position from par terre and wins 3-1. He will take home 8000 ranking points.

12:05: NITESH (IND) reverses the par terre position to get a point after Uzur DZHUZUPEKOV (KGZ) scores two turns from par terre. Nitesh gets a turn from par terre to make it 5-3. A par terre position in second period for Nitesh but no points scored. With the score 5-4, Dzhuzupekov defends his lead and wins at 97kg

11:50: Asian champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) with a big suplex and beats Ankit GULIA (IND) to top his group at 72kg. He will have his Round 5 match against Mustafa SAHIN (TUR) which will be a virtual gold medal bout.

11:40: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) with an 11-1 win over Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) at 77kg to confirm his semifinal spot. Yilmaz is a bronze medalist from the European Championships.

11:25: Asian silver medalist Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) holds off Murat FIRAT (TUR) 5-1 at 67kg. Solid win for Beishekeev. His compatriot Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) rolls to a 9-0 win over Lkhagvasuren DASHJAMTS (MGL) at 77kg.

11:20: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) with another injury pull out at 82kg. Shahin BADAGHI (QAT) gets the victory.

11:10: Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) waits for the second period to unleash the gut-wrench as he beats  Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL) 9-1 in the 97kg Round 2 bout.

11:05: Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) was down 3-2 against Ankit GULIA (IND) but bounces back with takedowns and two rolls to win 8-3 in Round 2.

11:00: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) comes on the mat but pulls out of the bout against PRINCE (IND) at 82kg. But he doesn't submit the injury report so we may see him again in later rounds.

10:50: Paris Olympic bronze medalist at 97kg Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) starts off a little rusty against Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) and gives up six points. But he manages to score at the right time using gut-wrenches and wins 10-6.

10:48: World U23 champion Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) with two front throws to stun NEERAJ (IND) 9-0 at 67kg. Remember these are round-robin matches and not eliminations.

10:45: Injury scare for Turkiye as Alperen BERBER (TUR) pulls out of his match against Karan KAMBOJ (IND) at 87kg. Berber got the par terre and got two front rolls for a 5-0 lead before a reversal and roll made it 5-3 as Berber held his hamstring in pain. He tried continuing but Kamboj pushed him for a stepout and Turkiye coach called to pull out due to injury.

10:40: Another quick finish at 72kg as Asian champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) rolls to a technical superiority win over Zandanbat BATSAIKHAN (MGL). Sohrabi looking to gather those points for a better seed at the World Championships.

10:35: Mehmet SAHIN (TUR) with a 9-0 win over Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) in Round 1 of the competition. Six weight classes have round-robin competition while 77kg has Nelson system with two groups.

10:30: Welcome to day one of the competition at the Ulaanbaatar Open with seven Greco-Roman weight classes -- 55kg, 67kg, 72kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg and 97kg.