CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (August 11) – Former world and Olympic Games champion KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) returns to No.1 in the latest United World Wrestling rankings for Greco-Roman, heading into the August 21-26 world championships in Paris.

Kim, a bronze medal winner at Rio 2016, assumes the top spot at 75kg with the decision of Rio gold medalist Roman VLASOV (RUS) to move up to 80kg. Vlasov, who won the Russian championship title at the heavier category in June, takes over the No.1 position from world champion Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS).

In addition to the bronze medal won at the Olympic Games last summer, Kim owns the 66kg gold medal from London 2012 and the 2013 world title with a triumph over Vlasov in the 74kg final in Budapest. 

With Kim’s promotion at 75kg and Vlasov’s move to 80kg, Rio 2016 gold medalists Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) and Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) remain the only wrestlers in the classic style to go from Rio to Paris at the top of their respective categories.

Borrero (59kg) and Lopez (130kg), along with Rio 2016 silver medalist and currently top-ranked heavyweight Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB), however, are not on the entry lists for Paris, meaning there will be new No.1s coming out of Paris in the categories currently held by the Cubans.

Also making the change to 80kg, Rio silver medalist at 75kg Mark MADSEN (DEN), formerly ranked No.2 behind Vlasov, and comes in 10th in his new category after finishing runner-up at the Nordic championships in June and placing fifth at the Pytlasinski Cup.

Meanwhile, Saeid ABDVALI (IRI), a Rio 2016 bronze medal winner with Kim, moves up to No.2 at welterweight, followed by European champion Tarek ABDEL SALAM (BUL) at No.3. Pytlasinski Cup titlist Aleksandr CHEKHIRKEN (RUS) climbs to No.6 and takes a place in the Russian line-up for Paris.

Other major changes in this month’s rankings, Rio 2016 bronze medalist Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) and world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) at 66kg were re-assigned to 71kg at No.4 and No.5, respectively. Bolkvadze won the Tbilisi Grand Prix in June and Staebler took the Pytlasinski Cup crown in July.

Wrestlers in the rankings are listed by name, country code, most notable or most recent result over the last 12 months, and their position in the previous rankings.

59kg – 2016 European under-23 champion Sergey EMELIN (RUS) finished runner-up at the Pytlasinski Cup in Warsaw to break into the rankings at No.14. Meanwhile, U23 titlist in 2015 Victor CIOBANU (MDA) won the Ljubomir Ivanovic Gedza International for No.16 in this month’s poll.

1. Ismael BORRERO MOLINA (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Shinobu OTA (JPN) – Rio OG No.2 (2)
3. Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN) – Asia No.1 (3)
4. Kristijan FRIS (SRB) – Europe No.1 (4)
5. Ivo ANGELOV (BUL) – Europe No.2 (5)
6. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (6)
7. Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) – Europe No.3 (7)
8. Stig Andre BERGE (NOR) – Tbilisi GP No.2 (8)
9. Kanybek ZHOLCHUBEKOV (KGZ) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (11)
10. Meirambek AINAGULOV (KAZ) – Asia No.2 (13)
11. Hammet RUSTEM (TUR) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (10)
12. Murad MAMMADOV (AZE) – European U23 No.1 (9)
13. Dshambulat LOKYAEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (12)
14. Sergey EMELIN (RUS) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (Not Ranked)
15. Radoslav VASILIEV (BUL) – Corneanu Memorial No.2 (nr)
16. Victor CIOBANU (MDA) – LIG Int’l No.1 (nr)
17. Victor MUNTEANU (ROU) – Corneanu Memorial No.1 (nr)
18. Rovshan BAYRAMOV (AZE) – Rio OG No.5 (15)
19. Zhora ABOVIAN (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (16)
20. Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (17)

66kg – Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) won a bronze medal at the Pytlasinski Cup to go from 19th to No.14 at lightweight, while Thor Masters titlist Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN) took the other bronze in Warwas to join the rankings at No.19.

1. Artem SURKOV (RUS) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (1)
2. Davor STEFANEK (SRB) – Europe No.2 (2)
3. Soslan DAUROV (BLR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.2 (3)
4. OH Sang-Hoon (KOR) – Asia No.1 (5)
5. Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) – Asia No.2 (6)
6. Ali Reizollah ARSALAN (IRI) – Asia No.3 (8)
7. Abdulsamet GUNAL (TUR) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (9)
8. Elmurat TASMURADOV (UZB) – Rio OG No.3 (10)
9. Atakan YUKSEL (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (10)
10. RYU Han-Soo (KOR) – Rio OG No.5 (15)
11. Miguel MARTINEZ PALACIOS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (11)
12. Migran ARUTUNYAN (ARM) – Rio OG No.2 (7)
13. Danijel JANECIC (CRO) – LIG Int’l No.3 (17)
14. Mateusz BERNATEK (POL) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (19)
15. Kamran MAMMADOV (AZE) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (12)
16. Aleksey KIYANKIN (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (13)
17. Parviz NASIBOV (UKR) – European Jrs No.1 (18)
18. Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL) – European U23 No.1 (20)
19. Fredrik BJERREHUUS (DEN) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (nr)
20. Istvan KOZAK (HUN) – Corneanu Memorial No.3 (nr)

71kg – Robert FRITSCH (HUN), the Grand Prix of Paris winner in January, won Ljubomir Ivanovic and took a bronze medal at Ion Corneanu in July to climb three places to No.13 in the rankings.

1. Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (2)
2. Balint KORPASI (HUN) – Europe No.1 (1)
3. Aleksander MAKSIMOVIC (SRB) – Europe No.3 (3)
4. Abuyazid MANTSIGOV (RUS) – Poddubny No.1 (4)
5. Shmagi BOLKVADZE (GEO) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (4@66)
6. Frank STAEBLER (GER) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (16@66)
7. Takeshi IZUMI (JPN) – Spanish GP No.1 (7)
8. Afshin BYABANGARD (IRI) – Asia No.2 (8)
9. Pavel LIAKH (BLR) – Europe No.2 (10)
10. Ilie COJOCARI (ROU) – Zagreb GP No.3 (6)
11. Yuri DENISOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (12)
12. Ruslan TSAREV (KGZ) – Dan Kolov No.2 (9)
13. Robert FRITSCH (HUN) – LIG Int’l No.1 (16)
14. Daniel CATARAGA (MDA) – World No.2 (11)
15. Evrik NIKOGHOSYAN (FRA) – Spanish GP No.2 (17)
16. Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) – World Cup No.1 (13)
17. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.2 (14)
18. Nurgazi ASANGULOV (KGZ) – Asia No.3 (15)
19. Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA) – Corneanu Memorial No.1 (nr)
20. Tarek BENAISSA (ALG) – Corneanu Memorial No.2 (nr)

75kg – Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) won his third bronze medal of 2017 at the Pytlasinski Cup to climb from seventh to No.4 while Viktor NEMES (SRB) won titles in Serbia and Romania in July to edge up two places to eighth.

1. KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
2. Saeid Mourad ABDVALI (IRI) – Rio OG No.3 (4)
3. Tarek ABDELSALAM (BUL) – Europe No.1 (5)
4. Tamas LORINCZ (HUN) – Europe No.3 (7)
5. Kilov KAZBEK (BLR) – Europe No.3 (8)
6. Aleksander CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) – Pytlasinski Memorial No.1 (12)
7. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS) – Europe No.2 (6)
8. Viktor NEMES (SRB) – LIG Int’l No.1 (10)
9. Karapet CHALYAN (ARM) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (9)
10. Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) – World Cup No.1 (11)
11. Maksat YEREZHEPOV (KAZ) – Asia No.1 (16)
12. YANG Bin (CHN) – Cerro Pelado No.1 (13)
13. Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO) – European U23 No.2 (14)
14. Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) – Palusalu Memorial No.1 (15)
15. Fatih CENGIZ (TUR) – Corneanu Memorial No.2 (nr)
16. Shohei YABIKU (JPN) – Spanish GP No.1 (nr)
17. Yurisandi HERNANDEZ RIOS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (19)
18. Kamal BEY (USA) – Zagreb GP No.3 (nr)
19. Furkan BAYRAK (TUR) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (20)
20. Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) – Vehbi Emre No.3 (5@71)

80kg – European U23 champion Alexandros KESSIDIS (SWE) won his third title in a row at the Pytlasinski Cup in Poland and, along with the Nordic championship title in June, climbs from 10th to No.6.

1. Roman VLASOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.1 (1@75)
2. Ramazan ABACHARAEV (RUS) – World No.1 (1)
3. Zurabi DATUNASHVILI (GEO) – Europe No.1 (2)
4. Aslan ATEM (TUR) – Europe No.3 (3)
5. Ramin TAHERISARTANG (IRI) – Asia No.1 (4)
6. Alexandros KESSIDIS (SWE) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (10)
7. Rafik HUSEYNOV (AZE) – GGP Final No.1 (5)
8. Adlan AKIEV (RUS) – Europe No.3 (6)
9. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (9)
10. Mark MADSEN (DEN) – Pytlasinski Cup No.5 (2@75)
11. Radik KULIEV (BLR) – Europe No.2 (7)
12. Peter BACSI (HUN) – Nikola Petrov No.1 (8)
13. Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) – Zagreb GP No.1 (12)
14. Nikolozi KELASOV (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (13)
15. Laszlo SZABO (HUN) – Nikola Petrov No.2 (11)
16. Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) – Vehbi Emre No.1 (17)
17. Edgar BABAYAN (POL) – Pytlasinski Cup No.5 (16)
18. Viktor SASUNOVSKI (BLR) – Polyak Memorial No.3 (15)
19. Danyal GAJIEV (KAZ) – Tbilisi GP No.3 (18)
20. Aleksander KOMAROV (RUS) – Palusalu Memorial No.1 (nr)

85kg – European champion Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) avenged a loss to Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) at the Tbilisi Grand Prix with a 4-1 win to kick off his bid for the Pytlasinski Cup. On his way to his fourth title of 2017, Lorince defeated four wrestlers ranked in the top 10, including Rio 2016 gold medalist David CHAKVETADZE (RUS), 2-1, in the final.

1. Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (1)
2. Nikolai BAYRAKOV (BUL) – Corneanu Memorial No.3 (2)
3. Islam ABBASOV (AZE) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (3)
4. David CHAKVETADZE (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (4)
5. Metehan BASAR (TUR) – Europe No.2 (7)
6. Robert KOBLIASHVILI (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (10)
7. Denis KUDLA (GER) – European U23 No.3 (9)
8. Zakarias BERG (SWE) – Nordic C’ships No.1 (8)
9. Javid GAMZATOV (BLR) – Polyak Memorial No.2 (6)
10. Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.3 (5)
11. Azamat KUSTUBAEV (KAZ) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (nr)
12. Eerik APS (EST) – Palusalu Memorial No.1 (11)
13. Yuri SHKRIUBA (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (12)
14. Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) – LIG Int’l No.1 (nr)
15. Ramsin AZIZSIR (GER) – Europe No.3 (14)
16. Evgeni SALEEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.3 (13)
17. Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL) – Corneanu Memorial No.2 (18)
18. Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) – Tbilisi GP No.2 (15)
19. Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) – European U23 No.3 (18)
20. Hossein NOURI (IRI) – Asia No.1 (20)

98kg – 2014 world champion at 85kg Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) grabbed his first international title since his triumph in Tashkent and joins the heavyweight rankings at No.14.

1. Yasmany LUGO CABRERA (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (1)
2. Felix BALDAUF (NOR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (6)
3. Aleksander HRABOVIK (BLR) – Europe No.2 (2)
4. Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) – Europe No.3 (3)
5. Balasz KISS (HUN) – Europe No.3 (6)
6. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.1 (4)
7. Musa EVLOEV (RUS) – Poddubny GP No.2 (7)
8. Orkhan NURIEV (AZE) – European U23 No.1 (8)
9. Dmitri TIMCHENKO (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.1 (10)
10. Cenk ILDEM (TUR) – Vehbi Emri No.3 (9)
11. Mikhail KAJAIA (SRB) – LIG Int’l No.1 (nr)
12. Daniel GASTL (AUT) – LIG Int’l No.2 (nr)
13. Fatih BASKOY (TUR) – Corneanu Memorial No.1 (nr)
14. Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA) – Spanish GP No.1 (nr)
15. Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN) – European U23 No.2 (15)
16. G’Angelo HANCOCK (USA) – Pan America No.3 (16)
17. Seyedmostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) – Asia No.1 (17)
18. Sergey STARODUB (BLR) – Pytlasinski Cup No.3 (nr)
18. Revazi NADAREISHVILI (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (18)
20. Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN) – Jr Worlds No.3 (20)

130kg – Pan American silver medalist Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) won the Grand Prix of Spain and Corneanu Memorial on back-to-back weekends in July to join the rankings at No.17.

1. Mijain LOPEZ NUNEZ (CUB) – Rio OG No.1 (1)
2. Riza KAYAALP (TUR) – Europe No.1 (2)
3. Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) – Rio OG No.3 (3)
4. Levan ARABULI (GEO) – Pytlasinski Cup No.1 (5)
5. Balint LAM (HUN) – Europe No.2 (4)
6. Alin ALEXUC-CIURARIU (ROU) – Coreanu Memorial No.2 (7)
7. Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) – Rio OG No.3 (6)
8. Vitali SHCHUR (RUS) – Europe No.3 (8)
9. Aleksander CHERNETSKI (UKR) – Ukraine Int’l No.3 (9)
10. Muminjon ABDULLAEV (UZB) – Vehbi Emre No.2 (10)
11. Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB) – Pan America No.1 (11)
12. Zviadi PATARIDZE (GEO) – Jr Worlds No.1 (12)
13. Heiki NABI (EST) – Cerro Pelado No.3 (13)
14. Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) – European U23 No.1 (14)
15. Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) – Nordic C’ships No.1 (18)
16. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) – Tbilisi GP No.1 (15)
17. Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ (CHI) – Spanish GP No.1 (nr)
18. Kiril GRISHCHENKO (BLR) – Tbilisi GP No.2 (16)
19. Tuomas LAHTI (FIN) – Nordic C’ships No.2 (17)
20. Oscar MARVIK (NOR) – Nordic C’ships No.3 (20)