#ChinaOpen2018

World and Olympic Champions Flock to Inaugural China Open

By Eric Olanowski

TAIYUAN, China (June 21) –Olympic champion WANG Jiao (CHN) and world champions Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and Yuliia TKACH (UKR) are set to headline this weekend’s China Open, the third Ranking Series event of 2018 in women’s wrestling. 

Wang, the 2008 Olympic champion and two-time Olympian will make her return to the mat for the first time since the 2017 World Cup, while Tkach, the three-time Olympian and 2014 world champion will be making her second appearance of the year. 

Though Tkach missed the European Championships and has only competed once this season (finishing second at the Klippan Lady Open), she’s the heavy favorite to claim gold at 62kg.

“Ukraine missed the European Championships because they were in Russia, but we never stopped training,” said Tkach. “If we want to compete well at the World Championships, we have to get on the mat and wrestle.” 

2016 world champion Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) after her Meiji Cup win. (Photo by Sachiko Hotaka) 

Fresh off a Meiji Cup gold medal performance, 2016 world champion Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) will be competing alongside three top fifteen ranked wrestlers at 55kg -- one of the tournament’s toughest weight categories.

Two of the three top fifteen ranked wrestlers at this weight are medalists from the Asian championships, where fifth-ranked OH Hyemin (KOR) finished with a silver medal, and China’s eighth-ranked LUO Lannuan ended with the bronze. 

Two other wrestlers to pay attention to at weight are 2018 Ivan Yarygin champion QI Zhang (CHN) and Belarus’ Zalina SIDAKOVA (BUL), who is also ranked top fifteen in the world. 

Another stacked weight class to watch is 57kg. This weight class will feature three 2018 senior-level continental champions, a world bronze medalist, and four top twenty ranked athletes. 

China enters the duo of Asian champions, PEI Xingru (CHN) and RONG Ningning (CHN) who is down from 59kg. The third continental champion entered at this weight class is European champion, Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) who is up from 55kg. 

Other notable entries to keep an eye on at 57kg are 2018 U23 European Champion Aleksandra ANDREEVA (RUS) and 2015 world bronze medalist Tetyana KIT (UKR). 

The China Open is one of United World Wrestling’s four women’s ranking series events and holds the distinction as the only event created solely for the ranking series. Action starts Friday at 10am local time.

SCHEDULE 
Friday (June 22) 

10:00 AM – Elimination rounds and repechage (WW 50, 53,55,57 and 59) 
18:00 PM – Opening ceremony 
18: 30 PM – Finals (WW 50, 53,55,57 and 59)

Saturday (June 23) 
10:00 AM – Elimination rounds and repechage (WW 62, 65 ,68, 72 and 76) 
17: 30 PM – Finals (WW 62, 65 ,68, 72 and 76)

#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Freestyle Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 14) -- The Freestyle entries for the World Championships are set. In total, close to 900 wrestlers are participating in the September 13-21 tournament in Zagreb.

In Freestyle, 326 wrestlers are entered to compete at the World Championships that will begin with Freestyle action on September 13. The competition will also see 12 Paris Olympic medalist compete including two gold medalists.

Note: These are preliminary entries and subject to change 72 hours before the Freestyle draw at the World Championships.

Zagreb

57kg
Salah KATEB (ALG)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Garette SAUNDERS (CAN)
Chengtao WANG (CHN)
Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Peter HAMMER CUDE (CRC)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
AMAN (IND)
Ali Hossein MOMENI (IRI)
Husein ALBEHADILALBORS (IRQ)
Rin SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Roman BRAVO YOUNG (MEX)
Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Chong Song HAN (PRK)
Darian CRUZ (PUR)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Spencer LEE (USA)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
Pedro MEJIAS (VEN)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Georgii OKOROKOV (AUS)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Jianhao LIU (CHN)
Ndjidda BOUBA (CMR)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Solomon ADDICO (GHA)
UDIT (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Adil OSPANOV (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Sangboum HAN (KOR)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Tuvshintulga TUMENBILEG (MGL)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Ali ABURUMAILA (PLE)
Kum Hyok KIM (PRK)
Dylan SHAWVER (PUR)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Jaxen FORREST (USA)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)
Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Chouaib SAHRAOUI (ALG)
Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Tao WEI (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Goderdzi DZEBISASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
SUJEET (IND)
Rahman AMOUZAD (IRI)
Mohammed KAREEM (IRQ)
Colin REALBUTO (ITA)
Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN)
Nachyn KUULAR (KAZ)
Ikromzhon KHADZHIMURODOV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Maxim SACULTAN (MDA)
Gantulga BATBAATAR (MGL)
Stephen IZOLO (NGR)
Abdullah ASSAF (PLE)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Kwang KIM (PRK)
Sebastian RIVERA (PUR)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Cabbar DUYUM (TUR)
Andrii BILIICHUK (UKR)
Real WOODS (USA)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)
Wilfredo RODRIGUEZ BOCANEY (VEN)

70kg
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Michael ZALE (CAN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
Gabriel MUANDA (COD)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
ROHIT (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Yongseok JEONG (KOR)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Austin GOMEZ (MEX)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Khairiddine BEN TLILI (TUN)
Haydar YAVUZ (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
PJ DUKE (USA)
Saiyn KAZYRYK (UWW)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Chermen VALIEV (ALB)
Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG)
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Aghanazar NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Renato DA SILVA (BRA)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Feng LU (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Vedran LUKETIN (CRO)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Luca FINIZIO (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Alibek ABDIKASSYMOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Cristian SANTIAGO (MEX)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Ok Chol HAN (PRK)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Ivan KUSYAK (UKR)
David CARR (USA)
Imam GANISHOV (UWW)
Mirzo KHAYITOV (UZB)
Anthony MONTERO (VEN)

79kg
Abdelkader IKKAL (ALG)
Farid JABBAROV (AZE)
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Tu AHEIYOU (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Marko NIKOLIC (CRO)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
AMIT (IND)
Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
Ryunosuke KAMIYA (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Bumgue SEO (KOR)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Vlad STRATAN (MDA)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Michael LABRIOLA (PUR)
Iakub SHIKHDZHAMALOV (ROU)
Alfred DANIEL (SLE)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
Azymberdi SAPAROV (TKM)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Levi HAINES (USA)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)

86kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Nan CAO (CHN)
Matteo MONTEIRO (CPV)
Kreso SKUGOR (CRO)
Ahmed MAHMOUD (EGY)
Taimuraz FRIEV (ESP)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Paulius LESCAUSKAS (LTU)
Traian CAPATINA (MDA)
Batbilguun NAADAMBAT (MGL)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Ethan RAMOS (PUR)
Weng CHOW (SGP)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Ibragim KADIEV (UWW)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)

92kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Jumabayi AERGEN (CHN)
Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Nurdaulet BEKENOV (KAZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Demchigdorj TUMURBAATAR (MGL)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)
Ivan CHORNOHUZ (UKR)
Trent HIDLAY (USA)
Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Nishan RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Filip HUKLEK (CRO)
Arturo SILOT TORRES (CUB)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Emmanuel OSEI SARFO (GHA)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
VICKY (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Hosei FUJITA (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Adam JAKSIK (SVK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Resul GUNE (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Gabriel DE SOUSA (BRA)
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
Filip KOSCIC (CRO)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Issah FUSEINI (GHA)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
Rajat RUHAL (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Gyeongmin KIM (KOR)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Murazi MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA)
Abdulla KURBANOV (UWW)
Dzianis KHRAMIANKOU (UWW)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)