#development, #WrestleBirmingham

UWW-KIMBA partnership helps Ahinsa win Sri Lanka’s first CWG medal

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 17): The Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which concluded on August 8, saw some thrilling wrestling action, with athletes from 10 countries finishing on the podium. New rivalries were established in the process and history was rewritten, the latter being true in the case of one wrestler in particular.

Nethmi AHINSA (SRI) won the bronze medal in the women’s freestyle 57kg category, sharing the podium with Hannah TAYLOR (CAN), who also won a bronze, silver medal winner Anshu MALIK (IND) and gold medallist from Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR).

For Ahinsa and her country, though, the medal will hold a special significance. The bronze, after all, was Sri Lanka’s first medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games. And Ahinsa, only 18 years old, was the youngest to win a medal.

Ahinsa’s medal is also a testimony to the success of the UWW’s developmental programs.

Ahinsa had been a part of the Crysbro Next Champ Program, which is run by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka. As a part of the program, the schoolgirl from the country’s North Western Province was sent to Hungary, where she got exposure to training and competing with some of the top-level athletes.

AHINSANethmi AHINSA (SRI) won a bronze medal in the 57kg weight class in Birmingham.

The UWW funded and supported her three-month training program at its partner center in Hungary, the Kozma István Hungarian Wrestling Academy (KIMBA), in collaboration with the NOC of Sri Lanka, which expressed its gratitude towards UWW and KIMBA.

The partnership between UWW and KIMBA came to fruition during President Lalovic’s visit to Budapest, Hungary, last year in December. During his trip, a partnership was initiated with KIMBA for the global development of the sport. Under the agreement, it was decided that KIMBA would host several international wrestling events, training camps, seminars and other programs.

The positive impact of the collaboration is for all to see, and Ahinsa’s medal at the Commonwealth Games underlines the importance UWW places on such developmental programs.

#WrestleBudapest

Budapest Ranking Series 2025 Entries: Greco-Roman

By United World Wrestling Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 27) -- The Greco-Roman competition at the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial Ranking Series will see around 200 wrestlers participate in 10 weight classes.

It will be a highly competitive style with numerous Olympic and world medalists entered in what will be the final Ranking Series event of the year.

Greco-Roman will be held on July 19 and 20, the last two days of the tournament. For full schedule of the Budapest Ranking Series 2025, click here.

FREESTYLE ENTRIES | WOMEN'S WRESTLING ENTRIES

Note: The entries are preliminary and subject to change 72 hours before the draw of respective styles. For final brackets and entries, please click here.

World Championships Tickets

Greco-Roman

55kg
Peter TOTOK (HUN)
Anil MOR (IND)
Alpamys DASTANBEK (KAZ)
Marlan MUKASHEV (KAZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Jayden RANEY (USA)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)
Jasurbek ORTIKBOEV (UZB)

60kg
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Ilkin GURBANOV (AZE)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Levente FIGE (HUN)
SUMIT (IND)
Galym KABDUNASSAROV (KAZ)
Aidos SULTANGALI (KAZ)
Seunghak KIM (KOR)
Dahyun KIM (KOR)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Dylan KOONTZ (USA)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)
Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (UWW)
Mehroj BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Yerkebulan ARDAKOV (KAZ)
Yerzhet ZHARLYKASSYN (KAZ)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Ellis E COLEMAN (USA)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (UWW)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)
AYTJAN KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

67kg
Farid KHALILOV (AZE)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Attila JOZSA (HUN)
David MANYIK (HUN)
NEERAJ (IND)
Damir IBRASHOV (KAZ)
Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ)
Din  KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Yeongwoo JEONG (KOR)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Byeonggi SEO (KOR)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Otto BLACK (USA)
Ruslan BICHURIN (UWW)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)
Maksim NOVICHIKHIN (UWW)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

72kg
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Petar GORNYASHKI (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Krisztian Istvan VANCZA (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Daniyar KALENOV (KAZ)
Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Mustafa SAHIN (TUR)
Furkan YILDIZ (TUR)
Aliaksandr KIKINIOU (USA)
Danil GRIGOREV (UWW)
Narek OGANIAN (UWW)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Calebe CORREA (BRA)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Levente LEVAI (HUN)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Nishant PHOGAT (IND)
Yeldos KAMELOV (KAZ)
Bakdaulet AKIMZHAN (KAZ)
Boseong KANG (KOR)
Hyeonjin KANG (KOR)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Sergei STEPANOV (UWW)
Sergei KUTUZOV (UWW)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Szabolcs SZINAY (HUN)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Dias KALEN (KAZ)
Shamil OZHAEV (KAZ)
Almir TOLEBAYEV (KAZ)
Jihyeok SONG (KOR)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Shahin BADAGHI (QAT)
Uros LECIC (SRB)
Antal VAMOS (SRB)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)
Islam ALIEV (UWW)
Rafael IUNUSOV (UWW)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Kauan FERREIRA (BRA)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Karan KAMBOJ (IND)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Shamil OZHAEV (KAZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Seunghwan LEE (KOR)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Milos PEROVIC (SRB)
Andrija MIHAJLOVIC (SRB)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)
Alan OSTAEV (UWW)
Aues GONIBOV (UWW)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO)
Vendel VITAI (HUN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Iussuf MATSIYEV (KAZ)
Seungjun KIM (KOR)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Uros KRSTIN (SRB)
Abdul CEBI (TUR)
Michial FOY (USA)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Adlan AMRIEV (UWW)
Magomed MURTAZALIEV (UWW)
Abdikodir JALILOV (UZB)

130kg
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Laszlo DARABOS (HUN)
Koppany LASZLO (HUN)
Assylbek ABDIKALYK (KAZ)
Alimkhan SYZDYKOV (KAZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Aden ATTAO (USA)
Courtney FREEMAN (USA)
Marat KAMPAROV (UWW)