Refugee Day

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

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

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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 Ranking Series Entries

Monday, May 19, 2025 - 09:43 By United World Wrestling Press

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 19) -- The third stop of the Ranking Series will be in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The competition will kick off on May 29 and continue till June 1.

Hosts Mongolia and India dominate entry list of over 200 wrestler. The UWW wrestlers will also have a significant presence.

The competition will be live on UWW+ on uww.org and the UWW App. Follow United World Wrestling on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and YouTube.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change 72 hours before the draws of each style. For real time entries, refer to arena.uww.org

Freestyle 

57kg
RAHUL (IND)
AMAN (IND)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Almaz SMANBEKOV (KGZ)
Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL)
Jiguur SARANTUYA (MGL)
Batmend ZORIGOO (MGL)
Bekir KESER (TUR)
Lev PAVLOV (UWW)

61kg
Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS)
UDIT (IND)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Bekbolot MYRZANAZAR UULU (KGZ)
Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL)
Enkhbold ENKHBAT (MGL)
Bolor Erdene GANBOLD (MGL)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Artem GOBAEV (UWW)
Anzor MAZHIDOV (UWW)

65kg
ROHIT (IND)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Zeneemeder BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Gantulga BATBAATAR (MGL)
Battulga RAASH (MGL)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Dzhambulat KIZINOV (UWW)

70kg
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Mohammadali AMOUZAD (IRI)
Aliakbar FAZLI (IRI)
Jin su JEON (KOR)
Usukhbayar BAATARKHUU (MGL)
Ankh Erdene ALTANGEREL (MGL)
Khangaibayar GANBOLD (MGL)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Konstantin KAPRYNOV (UWW)
Zagir SHAKHIEV (UWW)

74kg
JAIDEEP (IND)
Hossein ABOUZARI (IRI)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Burenjargal BATBAYAR (MGL)
Deleg SHINEBAYAR (MGL)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)

79kg
AMIT (IND)
Fariborz BABAEI (IRI)
Yeruult YADAMJAV (MGL)
Sukhbat GANSUKH (MGL)
Dalaitseren JAVKHLANKHUU (MGL)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)

86kg
ASHISH (IND)
Bekzat RAKHIMOV (KGZ)
Taegyu HWANG (KOR)
Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL)
Dayanbileg GAN OCHIR (MGL)
Tamiraa TSEVEEN OCHIR (MGL)
Ganbat TSERENPUNTSAG (MGL)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)

92kg
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Demchigdorj TUMURBAATAR (MGL)
Bayarbaatar SANJAASUREN (MGL)
Delgerdalai DEMBEREL (MGL)
Askhab SAADULAEV (UWW)

97kg
VICKY (IND)
Ahmad BAZRI (IRI)
Pureun KIM (KOR)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Sarantsogt DEMUUL (MGL)
Tuvshintur GANBAYAR (MGL)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
Uladzislau KAZLOU (UWW)
Bady Maadyr SAMDAN (UWW)
Irbeg TAVGAZOV (UWW)

125kg
DINESH (IND)
Altangerel CHINBAT (MGL)
Byamba Erdene DULAMKHUU (MGL)
Narantulga DARMAABAZAR (MGL)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW)

Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
European champion Kerem KAMAL (TUR) will be at 63kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling Federation / Kostadin Andonov)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Anil MOR (IND)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL)
Sumiyabazar MUNKHZAYA (MGL)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)

60kg
SURAJ (IND)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ)
Ganbayar NAMSRAI (MGL)
Enes BASAR (TUR)

63kg
CHETAN (IND)
Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
Doolotbek CHOIBEKOV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)

67kg
NEERAJ (IND)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)

72kg
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ)
Zandanbat BATSAIKHAN (MGL)
Mehmet SAHIN (TUR)

77kg
Nishant PHOGAT (IND)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Orgil NYAM ERDENE (MGL)
Lkhagvasuren DASHJAMTS (MGL)
Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)

82kg
PRINCE (IND)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)

87kg
Karan KAMBOJ (IND)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Batbayar TSOGTBAATAR (MGL)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)

97kg
NITESH (IND)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)

130kg
PREM (IND)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Turbat BATBAYAR (MGL)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)

Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL)Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) will wrestle at 62kg for Mongolia. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
NEELAM (IND)
Oyundari GANBAT (MGL)
Purevtungalag MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Amar Orchlon AMGALANTUGS (MGL)
Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Natalia PUDOVA (UWW)
Aiana UKHEEVA (UWW)

53kg
ANTIM (IND)
Namuuntsetseg TSOGT OCHIR (MGL)
Tsovoo GANKHUYAG (MGL)
Oyunbileg RENDOO (MGL)
Ariunzaya ODONCHIMEG (MGL)
Aysun ERGE (TUR)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)

55kg
PUSHPA (IND)
Otgontuya BAYANMUNKH (MGL)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Dulguun MUNKHBOLD BOLORMAA (MGL)
Tumendemberel NYAMDAVAA (MGL)

57kg
Ana PEREIRA (BRA)
NEHA (IND)
Enkhtuvshin BALJINNYAM (MGL)
Erdenebolor LKHAGVASUREN (MGL)
Munkhchimeg URJIN (MGL)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)

59kg
MUSKAN (IND)
Anudari BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Khorolgarav BOLDBAATAR (MGL)
Bayasgalan MONGOLKHUU (MGL)
Bediha GUN (TUR)

62kg
MANISHA (IND)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL)
Saruul ERDENEBILEG (MGL)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

65kg
SHIKSHA (IND)
Maitsetseg BAYARAA (MGL)
Odgerel ERDENE OCHIR (MGL)
Narkhajid NYAMSUREN (MGL)
Ekaterina KOSHKINA (UWW)
Valeriia DONDUPOVA SUVOROVA (UWW)

68kg
MONIKA (IND)
Balqis TAAIBIN (JOR)
Davaajargal ALTANSUKH (MGL)
Gantsetseg BATSUKH (MGL)
Batsuren MYAGMARSUREN (MGL)

72kg
HARSHITA (IND)
Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
Naidansuren BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Tsogzolmaa DORJSUREN (MGL)
Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW)

76kg
REETIKA (IND)
Tselmuun OTGONBAT (MGL)
Urtnasan GAN OCHIR (MGL)
Suvd Erdene KHURELCHULUUN (MGL)