#Trnava2018

Susaki, Larroque Headline Trnava World C'ships

Thursday, September 13, 2018 - 13:52 By Eric Olanowski

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TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 13) - Yui SUSAKI (JPN), the reigning 48kg senior-level world champion, will head to Trnava, Slovakia for her first-ever junior-level competition before putting her Paris World title on the line at the Budapest World Championships. 

Susaki, Japan's 19-year-old superstar won three straight Cadet World Championships before heading to Paris last year to claim her first senior-level World gold medal. 

The Junior World Championships will be Susaki’s second individual international tournament of the year after she suffered a devastating 10-0 loss to Asian Championship/ Asian Games representative, Yuki IRIE (JPN) at Japan’s Emperor’s Cup. That loss ultimately kept Susaki off of Japan’s continental championship teams. 

To make up for the Asian Championships and Asian Games absence, the Waseda University freshman traveled to Klippan, Sweden to wrestle in the first Ranking Series Event of the year, the Klippan Lady Open.

At the Klippan Lady Open, Susaki defeated current World No. 2, Mariya STADNIK (AZE), 2-2 in the gold-medal bout. She handed Stadnik her only defeat of the season. In 2018, Stadnik is 12-1, with 12 technical superiority victories while outscoring her opponents 128-5, and has gold medals at the Poland Open and the European Championships. 

Fast forward to July, Susaki avenged her loss to Irie, rallying from a four-point deficit with 30-seconds left to win the special wrestle-off, 6-4, ultimately making Japan’s Budapest World Team for the second straight year. 

If Susaki, the clear favorite at 50kg was to make the finals, she’d wrestle on Thursday night for the gold medal.


Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) looks to finish a single-leg in the bronze medal bout of the Paris World Championships. (Photo by Martin Gabor) 

Another superstar that’ll be in attendance will be France’s Koumba LARROQUE. 

Since 2015, Larroque has reached the top of the podium at the Cadet World Championships, Junior World Championships, and U23 World Championships. 

In addition, Larroque bumped up to the senior-level in her home country a season ago and captured a bronze medal at the Paris World Championships. 

Larroque is entered at 72kg and will compete on Thursday, with the potential to make Friday nights finals. 

Reigning Tampere champions Sae NANJO (JPN) and Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) also make their return to the Junior World Championships with hopes of winning back-to-back gold medals.

Nanjo is entered at 59kg, while Velieva is registered at 68kg. 


Cadet World champion, Anshu ANSHU (IND) will wrestle at 62kg. (Photo by Martin Gabor) 

Other World Medalists in Action 
50kg 
Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU)  - Junior World bronze 

53kg
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) - Junior World bronze

57kg  
Viktoriia VAULINA (RUS) - Junior World bronze

59kg
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)  - Junior World runner-up 
Erika BOGNAR (GER) – Cadet World bronze 

62kg 
Yuliana YANEVA (BUL) – Junior World runner-up 
Anshu ANSHU (IND)  - Cadet World champion 
Krystsina SAZYKINA (BLR) – Cadet World bronze 

65kg 
Alena TIMOFEEVA (RUS) – Cadet World runner-up
Wiktoria CHOLUJ   (POL) – Cadet World bronze

72kg 
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE) - Junior World bronze

76kg 
Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN) -  Junior World runner-up
Denise MAKOTA STROEM (SWE)  – Junior World bronze 
Bernadett NAGY (HUN) – Cadet World bronze 


In addition to their gold medal, each World Champion will receive a belt. (Photo by Justin Hoch)

SCHEDULE 
Wednesday 
10:30 - Qualification rounds WW – 50-55-59-68-76kg
17:15 - Semifinal WW – 50-55-59-68-76kg

Thursday 
10:30 - Qualification rounds WW – 53-57-62-65-72kg
10:30 - Repechage WW – 50-55-59-68-76kg
17:15 - Semifinal WW – 53-57-62-65-72kg
18:00 - Finals WW – 50-55-59-68-76kg

Friday 
10:30 - Repechage WW – 53-57-62-65-72kg
18:00 - Finals WW – 53-57-62-65-72kg

#BeachWrestling

Youth Olympic quotas in focus as Katerini hosts U17, U20 BW Worlds

Wednesday, September 24, 2025 - 08:47 By United World Wrestling Press

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KATERINI, Greece (September 23) -- Thirty countries, close to 300 wrestlers, a global glory and a Youth Olympic dream.

Over two days this week, on September 25 and 26, the world’s best age-group beach wrestlers descend upon the scenic Katerini Beach, where the sun sets behind the imposing Mount Olympus. In this postcard-perfect surroundings, they will hope to write their scripts at the U17 and U20 World Championships.

The tournament will be live on the YouTube channel of United World Wrestling's Beach Wrestling channel.

The championships will be taken into consideration for quotas for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games qualifier, adding another layer of significance to the U17 event.

United World Wrestling has received a request for quotas from more than 100 National Olympic Committees with a total of 300 male and 269 female wrestlers. Currently, there are 48 quotas per gender. In this context, the World Championships in Katerini will add excitement to the race for the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Dakar.

The U17 and U20 World Championships will be held across eight weight classes each in men’s and women’s categories. Last year, Ukraine and the United States reigned supreme in the men’s and women’s events, respectively, of the U17 World Championships. This year, too, they will be among the favorites to lift the team titles.

Once again, this year, Ukraine has entered a jumbo team with eight wrestlers in the U17 men’s competition. Only hosts Greece (12), Georgia (11), and Moldova (9) have a contingent bigger than theirs. On the women’s side, the USA has fielded the largest delegation among the 24 teams, with 9 wrestlers. In Beach Wrestling, a country can register a maximum of 3 athletes per weight category.

It won’t be so straightforward for both teams to retain their titles, with challengers emerging from other nations, particularly hosts Greece, who would hope to put on a good show in front of their home crowd. Romania, Moldova, Georgia and Iran will remain strong contenders despite Ukraine's legacy in the competition, especially the women's.

Earlier this month, the U15, U17 and U20 African Beach Wrestling Championships were held in Casablanca, where Algeria bagged the U17 men’s and women’s titles. The serene Ain Diab beach in the Moroccan capital hosted the age-group tournaments before the Beach Wrestling World Series, marking the first time the event was held in an African city.

Soon after the U17 and U20 Beach World Championships, the Katerini Beach will host the World Series on September 27 and 28. The penultimate stop of the event is set to be the biggest of the 2025 season so far in terms of participation. There have been a record number of entries, underlining the sport’s continued global growth.

The World Series will return to Africa in October for its final instalment of this season, when the tournament will be held in Alexandria, Egypt, on October 18 and 19.