Thursday's U23 World Championships semifinals set
Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 08:42 By Eric Olanowski
TIRANA, Albania (October 26) --- The fourth day of wrestling at the 2023 U23 World Championships is underway in the Albanian capital. Today, we'll draw the Greco-Roman brackets and run through the final five weights--53kg, 55kg, 57kg, 62kg and 65kg--in women's wrestling.
Top Stars in Action:
57kg - Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) – Senior European silver
57kg - Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) – U23 world bronze
62kg - Iryna BONDAR (UKR) – U23 world silver
65kg - Irina RINGACI (MDA) – Senior world gold
65kg - Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE) – U23 world silver
65kg - Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) – Senior world silver
72kg - Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) – U23 world silver
72kg - Amit ELOR (USA) – Two-time senior world gold
Semifinal matches (as the come in):
53kg
Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN) vs. Mako OONO (JPN)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) vs. Altyn SHAGAYEVA (KAZ)
57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE) vs. Mia Katherine FRIESEN (CAN)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR) vs. Sara NATAMI (JPN)
62kg
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) vs. Yuzuka INAGAKI (JPN)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR) vs. Bhagyashree Hanumant FAND (UWW)
65kg
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT) vs. Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Macey Ellen KILTY (USA) vs. Irina RINGACI (MDA)
72kg
Bukrenaz SERT (TUR) vs. Jyoti BERWAL (UWW)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL) vs. Amit ELOR (USA)
13:02: Kasabieva ended up scoring emptying the gas tank in the second period, scoring seven points before catching Kolawole on her back for the fall.
12:57: Nigeria's Esther KOLAWOLE, the '21 U23 world bronze medalist, is in a tight one against Alina KASABIEVA (AIN) over on Mat B. Both wrestlers have been extremely cautious in the first period, with Kolawole scoring the period's only point-- an inactivity point.
12:51: It looks like it's going to be an early afternoon for us. We have four matches left on each mat before heading to the Greco-Roman draws.
12:35: I was watching the Oono and Malanchuk match, so I didn't watch the match but heard that Elor picked up another fall to move into tonight's 72kg semifinals.
12:31: One of the least talked about aspects of the Japanese women's team is their timing. They understand the clock and when to attack better than any other team in wrestling.
That was on display with Oono's win over Malanchuk, as she trailed for the entire match, but struck late to steal the 2-2 match on criteria. She'll wrestle the winner of Ekaterina VERBINA (AIN) and Serena Rosa DI BENEDETTO (CAN).
12:23: Senior world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) picked up a 10-0 win in his first bout and will wrestle Busra EFE (TUR) next.
12:00: An upcoming match I'm looking forward to watching is Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR) and Mako OONO (JPN).
Due to Ukraine's lightweight, Malanchuk has been in and out of the senior lineup for a few years now, but she's capitalized on her opportunity a few times, winning a gold medal at the 2022 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series event and a silver at the 2021 Individual World Cup.
On the other side, you know what you're going to get out of the Japanese women, so it'll be good to see how Malanchuk stacks up against top-tier talent.
11:47: I just realized that 55kg senior world bronze medalist Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA) is entered into the competition. It's great to see her down at 53kg, which shows me she's preparing to compete at the Olympic weight in 2024.
Dragutan down at 53kg gives Moldova's women's team three solid Olympic weights. They'll have Dragutan at 53kg, Anastasia NICHITA at 57kg and Irina RINGACI at 68kg.
11:38: We'll go from one world silver medalist to another on Mat B. Macey KILTY (USA) just scored a fall, brining up Ukraine's Iryna BONDAR (UKR).
11:19: There's not much to talk about regarding Elor's opening round match other than she scored a 17 second fall over Tokyo Olympian Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN).
10:55: All eyes will be on the new face of American women's wrestling, Amit ELOR (USA). If you don't know who Elor is, she's taken the wrestling world by storm over the last two years. At the ripe age of 19, she's already a seven-time world championships--winning golds twice at the senior level, three times at the U20s and once at the U23 and U17s.
Elor is impressive beyond her years, both on and off the mat. Take a few minutes to read her latest interview with United World Wrestling's Vinay Siwach: U23 Worlds: Elor chases eighth world title in Tirana
10:45: Good morning, wrestling fans. We'll start the day with 30 minutes of repechage matches before moving into the qualification bouts. That gives me time to get the Stars in Action list prepared for you.
Gold medalist at 79kg in 2024, Nan CAO (CHN) will be wrestling at 86kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov) 
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) is the defending champion at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)
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