Development

United World Wrestling Opens High Performance Centre in China

By United World Wrestling Press

BEIJING (May 1) – The Chinese Wrestling Federation and the Chinese Olympic Committee last week hosted United World Wrestling for the opening ceremony of the “UWW China High Performance Center” at the Athletes Hotel in the National Olympic Sports Center in Beijing.

The China High Performance Center will host several wrestling-related activities including UWW advanced training camps and educational programs for coaches and referees.

“China is one of our most important partners, and it has great potential to help bring the sport of wrestling to another level,” said United World Wrestling president and IOC executive board member, Nenad Lalovic. “I am very happy to see the state-of-the-art facilities here in the training center that are now open to wrestling athletes worldwide. We hope to work closely with the Chinese Wrestling Federation in advancing the sport of wrestling in the region.”

Mr. Lalovic also held a friendly meeting with Mr. GOU Zhongwen, Director of General Administration of Sport of China, President of the Chinese Olympic Committee and discussed the wrestling development in China on this occasion.

“Although it was a short time since Ms. Zhang was appointed as the President of Chinese Wrestling Federation, we have seen the progress already in many areas,” said Mr. Gou. “We are very happy that United World Wrestling chose to allocate its high-performance center here, we will try our best to facilitate the growth of wrestling in China and contribute to the global development of the sport.”

For more information on how you can benefit from UWW educational programs, please contact development@unitedworldwrestling.org
 

Ms. ZHANG Ye, International Relations Manager, Chinese wrestling federation; Mr. LIU Guoyong, Director of the Competitive Sports Bureau of General Administration of Sport of China, Vice President of the Chinese Olympic Committee; Mr. LI Quanhai, Director of the National Olympic Sports Centre of China; Mr. GOU Zhongwen, Director of General Administration of Sport of China, President of the Chinese Olympic Committee; Mr. BIAN Zhiliang, Chairmen of the Board of Taishan Sports; Ms. ZHANG Xia, President of Chinese Wrestling Federation, Vice Director of Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau; Mr. Fouad Meskout, President of UWW African Council; Mr. Nenad Lalovic, United World Wrestling President, IOC Executive Board Member; Mr. SHENG Zetian, National Team GR Head Coach, Chinese Wrestling Federation; Ms. LIANG Lei, Development Manager, United World Wrestling

#AmateurMMA

Amateur MMA: Kutzli wins gold for U.S.; Ukraine best team

By Vinay Siwach

NOVI SAD, Serbia (October 19) -- It was only her fourth-ever bout but Natalie KUTZLI (USA) showed no lack of experience in defeating Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), and become a world champion at the UWW Amateur MMA World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Kutzli, the lone fighter from the United States, won by unanimous decision after three rounds against Stawska who has been on the circuit for a longder time.

"I'm just at a loss of words," Kutzli said. "I just feel so surreal."

In the final against Stawska, Kutzli opened the match with clear striking and controlled the round. She followed a similar strategy and never allowed Stawska to land cleanly. Kutzli won all three rounds in the final.

"She was a challenging fighter for sure," she said. "She was really tough. It's just such a amazing opportunity to be able to fight somebody who has that much experience. I loved every second of it."

Hailing from Michigan, Kutzli began her sports career with taekwondo before switching to wrestling. Her mother, Jeanie, would drive her from one practice to another and supported her when she switched sports.

"First person I talked to was my mom," she said. "She's just so proud of me and amazed by me and what I do and I just I made her proud and my family really proud. I do it for her in hopes of someday being in the UFC and be able to pay for my family and just be able to take care of my loved one, so that's my dream.

"From a young age, I was raised by a single mom. So I'm doing this for her and to be able to thank her and just sort of appreciation to my family."

At 57kg, Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) showed that she belongs to the big league she knocked out Justine TAILFER (FRA) in the 57kg final. The bout went to the second round but Dudakova dominated it throughout.

Dudakova and Tailfer went out of bounds in the second round with the former on top. The referee called it to center and when the bout restarted with Dudakova getting the back mount advantage, she kept her striking with Tailfer not able to defend which forced the referee to call it a knockout.

In other finals, Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) scored a victory via submission against Daria RAMANOVA (UWW) to win the gold medal at 50kg. However, two other Ukraine finalists failed to win.

Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) stormed back after a slow start to beat Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR) via split decision as two judges gave her the win to one who scored it in favor of Melnychuk as Sushina won the 61kg gold.

Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) did not give any chances to the judges to score differently as she defeated Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR) via unanimous decision to win at 65kg and bag the gold medal.

At 80kg, Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) had one of the most dominant wins in the final as she humbled Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), winning via unanimous decision, to claim the gold medal.

Kazakhstan also got a gold medal as Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) dominated the final against Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW) at 53kg to win via unanimous decision. Her strong start in the first two rounds gave her the advantage despite a strong show from Vykhvaten in the final round.

RESULTS

50kg Final
Anna BEZHENAR (UKR) df. Daria ROMANOVA (UWW), via submission

53kg Final
Aigerim TOREKHANOVA (KAZ) df. Veronika VYKHVATEN (UWW), via unanimous decision

57kg Final
Viktoriia DUDAKOVA (UWW) df. Justine TAILFER (FRA), via submission

61kg Final
Veronika SUSHINA (UWW) df. Yana MELNYCHUK (UKR), via split decision

65kg Final
Khalida TIMOFEEVA (UWW) df. Yuliia MELNYCHUK (UKR), via unanimous decision

70kg Final
Natalie KUTZLI (USA) df. Oliwia STAWSKA (POL), via unanimous decision

80kg Final
Anna ERSHOVA (UWW) df. Dana DROZHZHINA (UWW), via unanimous decision