#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) 

#WrestleAthens

Uzbekistan closer to Women's Wrestling history at U17 Worlds

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 - 14:55 By Vinay Siwach

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ATHENS, Greece (July 30) --  Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) is on the verge of creating history for Uzbekistan in Athens.

Wrestling at the World U17 Championships on Wednesday, Rakhimjonova became the first wrestler from Uzbekistan to reach the final of U17 Worlds.

 On Thursday, she will try to become the first wrestler to win a gold medal at any World Championships for Uzbekistan in Women's Wrestling.

She reached the 65kg final after beating European silver medalist Feenja HERMANN (GER), 6-1. In her earlier bouts, she had defeated Zuzanna HORBIK (POL), 6-4, and Alexandra MOISEI (MDA), 12-1.

Standing between her and the historic gold medal is Asian U17 champion Ashvini VISHNOI (IND), who was one of India's four finalists on Wednesday.

Vishnoi, who outscored her opponents 41-0 in four bouts, defeated European U17 champion Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW), 7-0, in the semifinal. After a slow start, Vishnoi got two takedowns in the second period, adding to her two stepouts and one passivity point in the match.

Former world U17 champion KAJAL (IND) will get a chance to avenge her loss from Asian Championships after she reached the final against Asian champion Wenjin QIU (CHN) at 73kg.

Qiu had humbled Kajal 10-0 in the final of the Asian U17 Championships a month ago in Vietnam. But if Kajal is in the form she showed on Wednesday, her chances to avenge that loss are high.

She defeated Pan-Am champion Ella Jo POALILLO (USA), 11-0, giving no chance to Poalillo. Kajal hit a couple of double-leg as counters to take down Poalillo.

Qiu pinned Deborah GARCIA (MEX) in the other semifinal when the Mexican tried to outside trip her. Qiu stood her ground and slammed Garcia before securing the fall.

Another Asian U17 Championships final will be replayed on Thursday, at 57kg, as champion MONI (IND) and silver medalist Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) won their respective semifinals and book their spots in the gold-medal bout.

Usmanov used a four-pointer against Sayuki TANADA (JPN) and secured the fall in two minutes and 36 seconds. With the loss of Tanada, Japan was left with only one finalist on Wednesday when five weight classes were in action.

Moni, like she had done all day, kept her defense and scored takedown whenever she could find an opening. After a passivity point, Moni scored three takedown to beat Alina BAROEVA (UWW), 7-0, in the semifinal.

At 43kg, RACHNA (IND) and Xin HUANG (CHN) made it to the final after contrasting wins. Rachna defended her 1-1 criteria lead over Madison HEALEY (USA) to win and make the final, Huang put on a takedown masterclass to beat European champion Raniia RAKHMANOVA (UWW) 8-0.

Turner closer to second world title

She is already a world U17 champion but there has been no lack of motivation for Morgan TURNER (USA) as she chases another at U17 level.

Morgan spent only two minutes and 24 seconds on the mat to win her three bouts on Wednesday and reach the final at 49kg in Athens.

A gold medalist from 2023 and bronze medalist from 2024, Morgan will face Yu KATAOKA (JPN) for the gold on Thursday. Like in typical Japanese style, Kataoka used five different takedowns to win 10-0 in her semifinal against Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW).

Morgan used a cradle to secure a fall over Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW), a returning bronze medalist and European champion.

RESULTS

43kg
GOLD: RACHANA (IND) vs. Xin HUANG (CHN)

SF 1: RACHANA (IND) df. Madison HEALEY (USA), 1-1
SF 2: Xin HUANG (CHN) df. Raniia RAKHMANOV (UWW), 8-0

49kg
GOLD: Morgan TURNER (USA) vs. Yu KATAOKA (JPN)

SF 1: Morgan TURNER (USA) df. Anhelina BURKINA (UWW), via fall (8-0)
SF 2: Yu KATAOKA (JPN) df. Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW), 10-0

57kg
GOLD: Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) vs. MONI (IND)

SF 1: Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ) df. Sayuki TANADA (JPN), via fall (5-0)
SF 2: MONI (IND) df. Alina BAROEVA (UWW), 7-0

65kg
GOLD: Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) vs. Ashvini VISHNOI (IND)

SF 1: Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB) df. Feenja HERMANN (GER), 6-1 
SF 2: Ashvini VISHNOI (IND) df. Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW), 7-0

73kg
GOLD: KAJAL (IND) vs. Wenjin QIU (CHN)

SF 1: KAJAL (IND) df. Ella Jo POALILLO (USA), 11-0 
SF 2: Wenjin QIU (CHN) df. Deborah GARCIA (MEX), via fall