#WrestleHammamet

Tunisia Takes Quartet of Olympic Berths, Nigeria Nabs Trio of Tokyo Spots

Saturday, April 3, 2021 - 19:38 By Eric Olanowski

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HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 3) --- For the second time in as many days, the host nation of the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier earned four Olympic berths. On Saturday, Rio Olympic bronze medalist Marwa AMRI (TUN) assisted her country in winning three gold medals and a silver and grabbed the team title 45 points ahead of second-place Nigeria, who earned three women’s wrestling Olympic berths on the day.

Sarra HAMDI (TUN), Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) and Marwa AMRI (TUN) won golds at 50kg, 57kg and 62kg, while Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) won silver at 76kg.

Bouseta’s gold came in the traditional 57kg bracket, while Hamdi and Amri won Nordic style bracket gold medals. The two-time African medalist breezed to the semifinal and final wins over Eman EBRAHIM (EGY) and Fatoumata Yarie CAMARA (GUI). In the semifinals, Bouseta controlled the match whistle-to-whistle with a two-on-one, scored two takedowns, two exposures and a reversal, and cruised to a 9-2 victory over the Egyptian. Then, in the finals, the long and lengthy Tunisian capitalized on her Guinean opponent’s mistakes with eight counter-offensive points and eased her way to a 57kg gold with a 9-3 victory.

Hamdi and Adijat IDRIS (NGR) came into their fourth-round matches with 3-0 records, but the Tunisian took the 50kg gold with a narrow 2-1 victory.

Amri, the most decorated African women’s wrestler ever, punched her fourth ticket to the Olympic Games with three wins on the day. She’ll now head to Tokyo looking to improve on her bronze-medal finish from the Rio Olympic Games.

Coming into the weekend, ’19 world bronze medalist Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) was the lone Nigerian woman to qualify her nation for the Olympic Games. But Nigeria will have at least four women competiting in Tokyo after Blessing OBORUDUDU’s (NGR) 68kg gold medal and silver-medal finishes from Idris and Aminat ADENIYI (NGR) at 50kg and 62kg, respectively.


Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) won gold at 53kg and punched Cameroon's ticket to the Olympics. (Photo: Ben Mrad Bayrem)

Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) stole the show on Saturday night en route to winning the 53kg gold medal. The now-two-time Olympian obliterated her three competitors – scoring back-to-back falls over Bose SAMUEL (NGR) and Lamia CHEMLAL (ALG) before capturing the 53kg crown with a 53-second technical superiority win over Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) in the finals.

Despite falling to Essombe Tiako in the gold-medal match, Aquino scored five first-period takedowns against Siwar LOUATI BEN ALI (TUN) in their semifinal meeting and booked Guam a ticket to the Olympic Games at 53kg. She joined Maria DUNN (GUA) as the only women’s wrestlers from Guam to ever earn an Olympic berth.

Samar HAMZA (EGY) earned Egypt an Olympic berth at 76kg after winning gold on Saturday night. She's now a two-time Olympian. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The final pair of women's wrestling Olympic berths went to Egpytian wrestlers Enas AHMED (EGY) and Samar HAMZA (EGY). Hamza, who competed at the Rio Olympics, won gold at 76kg with a pair of wins, and Ahmed finished in second place at 68kg after falling to eventual champion Oborududu in the opening round.

The final day of wrestling at the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier starts on Sunday morning at 11:00 am (local time). Follow all the action live on www.uww.org.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD – Sarra HAMDI (TUN)
SILVER – SAdijat Avorshai IDRIS (NGR)
BRONZE – Nada MOHAMED (EGY)

53kg
GOLD – Joseph ESSOMBE (CMR) df. Rckaela AQUINO (GUM), 10-0
BRONZE – Siwar LOUATI BEN ALI (TUN) df. Elisa RASOANANTENAINA (MAD), via fall
BRONZE –  Bose SAMUEL (NGR) df. Lamia CHEMLAL (ALG), 10-0

57kg
GOLD –  Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) df. Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI), 9-3
BRONZE – Rayane HOUFAF (ALG) df. Eman EBRAHIM (EGY), via inj. def.

62kg
GOLD – Marwa AMRI (TUN)
SILVER – Aminat ADENIYI (NGR)
BRONZE – Berthe ETANE NGOLLE (CMR) 

68kg
GOLD – Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR)
SILVER – Enas AHMED (EGY) 
BRONZE – Khadija JLASSI (TUN) 

76kg
GOLD – Samar HAMZA (EGY)
SILVER – Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) 
BRONZE – Amy YOUIN (CIV) 

#WrestleBratislava

Gatsalov: Satisfied with Euros, will prepare for tougher World Championships

Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 13:29 By United World Wrestling Press

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 22) -- Khadzhimurat GATSALOV was in Bratislava, Slovakia for the European Championships as the coach if the UWW wrestlers and returned with five gold, two silver and one bronze medals in 10 weight classes.

United World Wrestling caught up with Gatsalov after the tournament and he reflected on the performance of the wrestlers and his plans for the World Championships which will be held in September in Zagreb, Croatia.

Excerpts:

- On the performance of his wrestlers

Gatsalov: Overall, we are satisfied with the results. We haven’t had a performance like this in a long time -- five gold medals out of ten, plus two silver and one bronze. That means eight out of ten athletes came home with medals. Both the coaching staff and the athletes did a great job and prepared well for this European Championships.

We were counting on four or five gold medals. The guys wrestled really well and followed the instructions. For us coaches, that’s the most important thing that the wrestler steps on the mat and follows the game plan.

- On competition with Iran and the United States

Gatsalov: I believe there’s still room for improvement. This will help strengthen both our technical and physical foundations. When I look at Iranian and American wrestling, they put a lot of emphasis on physical conditioning. We’ve never really focused on that. We’ve always prioritized technique. But moving forward, we’ll also be physically prepared to endure tough matches and handle heavy loads without wearing out.

- On Sidakov's return and performance at 74kg

Gatsalov: Sidakov just couldn’t make it happen this time, maybe it’s because they know each other so well. [Chermen] VALIEV had a very strong motivation to win. You could feel it, it was clear on the mat. But as a coach, I believe this loss will serve as a driving force for Sidakov's future wins. It’s a significant psychological moment. Honestly, it’s better to experience this now than at the World Championships or the Olympics. I think once he recovers from his injury, we’ll get back to training and keep moving forward.

- On former world champion Baev winning gold

Gatsalov: Since 2019, he hadn’t shown any results on an international level. But today, he was better than anyone. He’s been working towards this moment for a long time, training hard, and he showed solid, confident wrestling. He wrestled like a true master — precise, and without mistakes. We were genuinely very happy for him.

- On the 65kg champion Ibragim IBRAGIMOV

Gatsalov: Ibragimov demonstrated a strong performance, despite losing at the Ranking Series in Albania less than a month ago. Today, he came in well-prepared. He was in good form physically, technically, and mentally. That previous loss likely became a stepping stone toward this victory.

Khadzhimurat GATSAKOVKhadzhimurat GATSALOV at the European Championships in Bratislava. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

- On preparations for World Championships

Gatsalov: We have a clear understanding of how we’re going to prepare. I can’t reveal all the secrets of our training plan, but we know exactly who we’re preparing for. That’s why we’ll be focusing on targeted, individual work against specific opponents. Our coaching staff is strong. We have real professionals on board, including experienced coaches from the old Soviet school and younger ones who are stepping up and bringing fresh energy.

I think our wrestlers are also friendly with each other, which is very important. The atmosphere in the team is productive. We are waiting for the World Championships. We want competition on the mat with big countries like Iran, America. The Japanese have also improved a lot. Therefore, we want to compete with the strong ones, and we want to settle things on the mat.

(The interview was conducted by Karina MIRZOIAN)