#Trnava2018

Three Reigning World Champs Make Tuesday Night’s Semifinals

By Eric Olanowski

TRNAVA, Slovakia (September 18) - Reigning junior world champions Kerem KAMAL (TUR), Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI), and Aleksandr KOMAROV (RUS) all moved into Tuesday night’s Trnava Greco-Roman semifinals. 

A noticeably larger Kamal, up from his 2017 World Championship weight of 55kg made the 60kg semifinals with three wins on Tuesday morning.

He only surrendered one point in his first two matches before edging junior European bronze medalist, Ararat MANUCHARYAN (ARM), 5-3 to make the semifinals. 

In the semifinals, Karem will see three-time world representative, Razvan ARNAUT (ROU).  

 Reigning world champion, Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI). Photo Max Rose-Fyne. 

Meanwhile, the second reigning world champion Amin Kaviyaninejad barely broke a sweat, cruising to the 72kg semifinals while outscoring his opponents 25-0. 

He’ll wrestle Russia’s three-time world team representative Magomed YARBILOV for a spot in tomorrow night’s finals. 

The third Tampere world champion to make Tuesday night's semifinals was three-time reigning world champion, Aleksandr Komarov. 

Komarov shutout his first two opponents 18-0, including a 10-0 win over reigning cadet world finalist Istvan TAKACS (HUN) before moving into the quarterfinals. 

In the quarterfinals, Komarov narrowly squeaked past Iran’s Hosein FOROUZANDEH (IRI), 3-2. Komarov trailed 2-0 with less than 10 seconds left when Forouzandeh was penalized two points for a clear leg-foul. The Iranian coaches challenged the call and lost, giving Komarov his third point, and the 3-2 victory. 

Komarov will meet Georgia's Aivengo RIKADZE on Tuesday night for a spot in his fourth straight age-level World Championship.

SEMIFINALS
60kg

Ali Reza Ayat Ollah NEJATI (IRI) vs. Vijay VIJAY (IND) 
Kerem KAMAL (TUR) vs. Razvan ARNAUT (ROU) 

67kg
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) vs. Ismail GUN (TUR) 
Makhmud BAKHSHILLOEV (UZB) vs. Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) 

72kg
Magomed YARBILOV (RUS) vs. Amin Yavar KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI) 
Minto MAEDA (JPN) vs. Nikoloz TCHIKAIDZE (GEO) 

82kg
Aleksandr Andreevitch KOMAROV (RUS) vs. Aivengo RIKADZE (GEO) 
Muhutdin SARICICEK (TUR) vs. Andrew Douglas BERREYESA (USA) 

92kg
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT) vs. Balint VATZI (HUN) 
Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN (FIN) vs. Illia LAURYNOVICH (BLR) 

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Lalovic meets Saudi Olympic vice president Fahad bin Jalawi

By United World Wrestling Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (April 25) -- United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC met with Vice President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee Fahad bin Jalawi Abdulaziz bin Musaed in Riyadh during his visit to Saudi Arabia.

Lalovic met with Fahad bin Jalawi at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Olympic Complex in Riyadh. President of the Saudi Wrestling Federation Fahad Al-Faraj was also present during the meeting.

Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Saudi Wrestling Federation discussed enhancing cooperation with UWW in wrestling as the Saudi federation aspires to establish a strong group of male and female players capable of participating in the Olympic events in the coming years.

Lalovic also visited the training camp organized by the Saudi wrestling team. The session saw the participation of 14 male and female wrestlers [4 U17, 4 U20, 4 U23 and 2 senior wrestlers]. The training was under the supervision of the Juan LUIS (CUB).

Saudi wrestling has made progress in recent times with Munthir JANDU (KSA) winning a silver medal in the 63kg weight class at the U20 Asian Championships last year.