World Champion Azizli Headlines Hungarian Grand Prix Entry List

Thursday, February 14, 2019 - 14:57 By Eric Olanowski

GYOR, Hungary (February 14) - Azerbaijan's reigning world champion Eldaniz AZIZLI headlines a Hungarian Grand Prix field of 175 wrestlers from 25 different nations which boasts an impressive eight returning world medalists (listed in bold below).

Though they only enter three wrestlers, Azerbaijan has arguably the most successful team in the tournament. Their three entries are Azizli, Rasul CHUNAYEV, and Sabah SHARIATI.

Azizli is coming off a run to his first world title and is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the world at 55kg, while Chunayev and Shariati both hold Rio Olympic bronze medals.

Chunayev, who's 25 points is good enough for the No. 4-ranking in the world at 72kg, has three world medals to go along with his Rio bronze-medal finish. In 2015, he won the world title and grabbed bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 world championships.

The last Azeri entry is Sabah Shariati, who will be making his 2019 season debut at 130kg.

Korea and Serbia are two other nations that enter stacked squads into the second Ranking Series event of the year.

Korea's team features Olympic champion KIM Hyeonwoo, two-time world champion RYU Hansu, and reigning 130kg world bronze medalist KIM Minseok.

Kim Hyeonwoo brings 25 Ranking Series points into the Hungarian Grand Prix and is ranked third in the world after a bronze-medal finish at last weekend's Zagreb Open.

Kim Minseok, the fifth-ranked wrestler in the world at 130kg, is looking to bounce back after failing to medal at the Zagreb Open, and two-time world champion Ryu Hansu will make his season debut at 67kg.

Serbia's team will be led by 2017 world champion Viktor NEMES and reigning world bronze medalist Mihail KAJALA. Both wrestlers are ranked fourth in the world at 77kg and 97kg respectively.

The Hungarian Grand Prix begins on February 23 at the Olimpiai Sportpark in Gyor, Hungary.

Early Entries

Algeria
55kg - Abdelkarim FERGAT
60kg - Abdennour LAOUNI
67kg - Ishak GHAIOU
72kg - Tarek Aziz BENAISSA
77kg - Akrem BOUDJEMLINE
87kg - Bachir SID AZARA
87kg - Adem BOUDJEMLINE
97kg - Hemza HALOUI

Azerbaijan
60kg - Eldaniz AZIZLI
72kg - Rasul CHUNAYEV
130kg - Sabah SHARIATI

Belarus
60kg - Maksim KAZHARSKI
67kg - Soslan DAUROV
77kg - Pavel LIAKH
77kg - Tsimur BERDYIEU
82kg - Viktar SASUNOUSKI
87kg - Mikalai STADUB
87kg - Radzik KULIYEU
97kg - Aliaksandr HRABOVIK
130kg - Kiryl HRYSHCHANKA
130kg - Georgi CHUGOSHVILI

Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ, the 2017 world bronze medalists, moved up to No. 3 in this months world rankings after his bronze-medal performance at the first Greco-Roman Ranking Series event, the Zagreb Open. (Photo: Tony Rotundo )

Chile
67kg - Cristobal Alonso TORRES NUNEZ
130kg - Yasmani ACOSTA FERNANDEZ

China
60kg - WALIHAN Sailike
63kg - TUO Erbatu
63kg - HU Di
67kg - ZHANG Gaoquan
67kg - TIAN Qiye
72kg - ZHANG Hujun
77kg - ZHANG Ridong
82kg - QIAN Haitao
87kg - NA Junjie
87kg - PENG Fei
97kg - ALIMUJIANG Abudourexiti
97kg - XIAO Di
97kg - ZHANG Gang
130kg - MENG Lingzhe

Czech Republic
72kg - Daniel VARGA
77kg - Petr NOVAK
77kg - Oldrich VARGA
97kg - Artur OMAROV
97kg - Ondrej DADAK
130kg - Stepan DAVID

Denmark
67kg - Fredrik Holmquist BJERREHUUS
82kg - Rajbek BISULTANOV

Heiki NABI, the two-time world champion is set to make his 2019 Ranking Series debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix. (Photo: Martin Gabor )

Estonia
60kg - Helary MAEGISALU
67kg - Denis BOLUNOV
130kg - Heiki NABI

Finland
60kg - Lauri Johannes MAEHOENEN
77kg - Niko Olavi Oskari ERKKOLA
77kg - Tero Antero Matias HALMESMAEKI
82kg - Jarno Krister AALANDER
87kg - Rami Antero HIETANIEMI
97kg - Antti Matias MAEKINEN
130kg - Tuomas Heikki Juhani LAHTI

Georgia
60kg - Ramaz SURMANIDZE
60kg - Gizo MELADZE
72kg - Sachino DAVITAIA
77kg - Demuri KAVTARADZE
82kg - Lasha GOBADZE
82kg - Gela BOLKVADZE

Germany
72kg - Michael Felix WIDMAYER
82kg - Marius BRAUN
130kg - Jello KRAHMER

Iran
55kg - Reza Kheirollah KHEDRI
60kg - Shirzad Ali BEHESHTITALA
63kg - Meysam Karamali DALKHANI
63kg - Mohammad Naser NOURBAKHSH
67kg - Mohammad Hossein ELYASI
72kg - Mohammadreza Alireza AGHANIACHARI
77kg - Payam Abdeh Saleh BOVEYRI PAYANI
82kg - Jamal Yadollah ESMAEILIKHATOONABAD
87kg - Yousef Ahmad GHADERIAN
97kg - Hassan Ali ARYANEZHAD
130kg - Shahab Morteza GHOUREHJILI

Italy
60kg - Jacopo SANDRON
67kg - Ignazio SANFILIPPO
77kg - Riccardo Vito ABBRESCIA
87kg - Fabio PARISI
87kg - Mirco MINGUZZI
97kg - Daigoro TIMONCINI

Rio Olympic silver medalist Shinobu OTA (JPN) will compete at 63kg at the Hungarian Grand Prix. (Photo: Martin Gabor )

Japan
63kg - Shinobu OTA
67kg - Katsuaki ENDO
67kg - Shogo TAKAHASHI
67kg - Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA
72kg - Tomohiro INOUE
77kg - Naotsugu SHOJI
77kg - Masato SUMI
77kg - Kodai SAKURABA
87kg - Takahiro TSURUDA
97kg - Masaaki SHIKIYA
130kg - Arata SONODA

Korea
60kg - KIM Seunghak
60kg - LEE Jungbaik
67kg - KIM Dohyeong
67kg - RYU Hansu
77kg - KIM Hyeonwoo
87kg - PARK Heageun
97kg - LEE Seyeol
130kg - KIM Seungjun
130kg - KIM Minseok

Moldova
63kg - Alexandru BICIU
63kg - Donior ISLAMOV
77kg - Daniel CATARAGA
77kg - Igor BESLEAGA

Nowary
63kg - Stig-Andre BERGE
67kg - Haavard JOERGENSEN
130kg - Oskar MARVIK

Romania
55kg - Alexandru Vasile BOTEZ
60kg - Virgil MUNTEANU
63kg - Mihai Radu MIHUT
72kg - Ilie COJOCARI
130kg - Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU
130kg - Constantin HUTULEAC

Viktor NEMES, the 2017 world champion confirmed that he'll be wrestling in Hungary next weekend. (Photo: Tony Rotundo)

Serbia
63kg - Tamas NAD
67kg - Mate NEMES
77kg - Viktor NEMES
87kg - Nikolaj Georgiev DOBREV
87kg - Vladimir STANKIC
97kg - Mihail KAJALA

Slovakia
77kg - Leos DRMOLA
97kg - Tamas SOOS

Sweden
67kg - Danielo Giuseppe DI FEOLA
72kg - Oskar Simon ERLANDSSON
77kg - Alex Michel BJURBERG KESSIDIS
97kg - Pontus Johan LUND
97kg - Kristoffer Zakarias BERG

Ukraine
60kg - Viktor PETRYK
67kg - Ruslan KUDRYNETS
67kg - Bohdan KOVERNYUK
72kg - Artur POLITAIEV
77kg - Volodymyr YAKOVLIEV
77kg - Dmytro PYSHKOV
82kg - Yaroslav FILCHAKOV
82kg - Oleksandr BELOTSKYI
87kg - Andrii ANTONIUK
87kg - Iurii SHKRIUBA
97kg - Yevhenii SAVETA
97kg - Mykola KRYSOV
97kg - Zielimkhan DZIHASOV
130kg - Vladyslav VORONYI
130kg - Mykola KUCHMII

Kamal BEY, the United States' 2017 junior world champion, is looking to rebound after being disqualified from the Zagreb Open. (Photo: Kadir Kaliskan)

USA
60kg - Dalton ROBERTS
63kg - Travis RICE
72kg - Patrick SMITH
77kg - Ravaughn PERKINS
77kg - Kamal BEY
87kg - Patrick MARTINEZ
87kg - Kevin RADFORD JR
87kg - Benjamin PROVISOR
97kg - Nicholas BOYKIN
97kg - Tracy HANCOCK
130kg - Robert SMITH

SCHEDULE

Friday (February 22)
Till 12:00 - Final entries for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg
15:00 - Referee meeting
16:00 - Technical conference – all teams
17:00 - Draw – GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97 kg

page3image1443946080 Saturday (February 23)
08:00 - Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
10:00 - Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg
Till 12:00 - Final entries/ Inscriptions définitives pour GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16:30 - Draw – GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
17:00 - Opening Ceremony
18:00 - Finals for GR cat. 55, 63, 72, 82, 97kg Award ceremonies

Sunday (February 24)
8.30- Medical examination & Weigh-in for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
10.00-15.00- Qualification rounds and repechage for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg
16.00-19.15- Finals for GR cat. 60, 67, 77, 87, 130kg and Award ceremonies

Monday (February 25)
Departure of the delegations

#WrestleAlexandria, #WrestleParis

Sghaier beats Hamza; New Zealand, Algeria earn historic Paris Olympic spots

Saturday, March 23, 2024 - 20:16 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 23) -- For a second consecutive day at the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt suffered a heartbreak.

On Friday, Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) failed to earn a Paris Olympic spot in Greco-Roman. And today, two-time world medalist Samar HAMZA (EGY) suffered a stunning loss in Women's Wrestling to miss out on the Paris spot.

Apart from Hamza, the tournament threw a few other surprises as six nations shared the 12 Paris spots with Nigeria winning the most with four. Algeria, Guam and Tunisia won two each while Egypt and New Zealand got one each. Algeria and New Zealand qualified for the Olympics for the first time in Women's Wrestling.

Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN), an African champion at 72kg and Tokyo Olympian, once again earned her qualification at 76kg. Beating Hamza made it even more special.

Six wrestlers were divided into two groups of three each. Samar HAMZA (EGY) topped her group while Amy YOUIN (CIV) finished second. In the other group, African champion Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) topped the group and Sghaier was second as she had lost to Rueben in the first match.

Hamza and Sghaier faced each other in the semifinal and Sghaier was slow to start before hitting a headlock four-pointer and Hamza could only score two points. In the second period, Sghaier inside-tripped Hamza for two more points. Hamza responded with a four but Sghaier recovered from the throw and held Hamza on the mat for a pin. While it was not confirmed, Hamza was cautioned for fleeing, adding two more points to Sghaier's score.

Hamza got a takedown and on another attempt, Sghaier hit a hip toss and helped Hamza to the mat to secure the fall and earn the Paris spot.

In the other semifinal, Rueben completely blocked Youin to score a 6-0. Rueben's was Nigeri's fifth Paris Olympic quota as Odunayo ADEKOUROYE (NGR) won one at the World Championships.

Nigeria's Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) showed her class at 68kg again, winning the semifinal against Uilau TARKONG (PLW) via fall in just 24 seconds.

Tayla FORD (NZL) is the first to qualify New Zealand for Olympics in Women's Wrestling. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Tayla FORD (NZL) made sure that New Zealand will have a representative at the Olympics in Women's Wrestling for the first time as she won the spot after pinning Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY) in the other semifinal at 68kg.

The only weight class in which Nigeria is yet to qualify is the 50kg as African champion Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) suffered a 7-5 loss to Nada MOHAMED (EGY) in the semifinal.

The Rio Olympian led 2-2 at the break and scored a stepout at the start of the second period to lead 3-2. But Nada got a stepout to earn a 3-3 criteria lead. However, that lead was short-lived as Genesis answered with a takedown and led 5-3 with 50 seconds left on the clock.

Nada scored a stepout with nine seconds remaining and in a dramatic turn of events, she snapped Genesis who pointed out that there was no whistle from the referee to restart. But Nada was awarded the two points which Genesis challenged but lost.

Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) earned an Olympic quota at 50kg, a first for Algeria. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

In another close semifinal, Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) got the better of Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 9-6, becoming the first Algeria wrestler to qualify the nation in Women's Wrestling. She led 4-0 using two takedowns before Ayachi scored a reversal and exposure to cut the lead to 4-3.

Doudou had to pay the price for being defensive as Ayachi scored a stepout in the second period and later a go-behind to lead 6-4. Ayachi became defensive soon after and Doudou hit a single leg and elevated Ayachi who fell as Doudou tried making it a double-leg. She was awarded four points, giving her an 8-6 lead with 28 seconds left.

Ayachi tried her options but gave up a stepout as Doudou celebrated earning a spot in the Olympics while Ayachi could not control herself as soon as the match ended.

Tunisia's second quota came in 62kg as Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) dominated Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG) in the semifinal. Her 12-1 win ensured that Tunisia continued its African dominance at the weight even after Marwa AMRI's (TUN) retirement. Amri now coaches the Tunisian team.

The other wrestler to qualify at this weight was African champion Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) who defeated Angelina RODRIGUES MIRANDA (CPV) 10-0 in just 24 seconds.

Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) after qualifying Guam for the Paris Olympics at 57kg. (Photo: UWW / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Aquino sisters win

The Aquino sisters from Guam, Mia and Rckaela, earned Paris Olympic spots after winning the semifinals at 53kg and 57kg. Mia has wrestled at the Tokyo Olympians but Rckaela will go to her first Olympics.

Both posted contrasting victories in their respective semifinals as Mia pinned Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN) after scoring 11 points and Rckaela managed a close 4-3 win over Faten HAMAMMI (TUN) who scored all her points in the first period.

Rckaela trailed 3-2 at the break and showed some frantic wrestling in the second period which did not threaten Hamammi. However, her constant movement managed to tire Hamammi who gave up a takedown with 20 seconds left. Rckaela needed to defend her 4-3 lead for 10 seconds which she did and won the Paris spot.

Qualifying with Mia at 53kg is African champion Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) who rolled to a 10-0 win over Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY). At 57kg, Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG) earned the second spot after beating Natacha NABAINA (CMR) 11-8.

RESULTS

50kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 9-6
SF 2: Nada MOHAMED (EGY) df. Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR), 7-5

53kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Mia AQUINO (GUM) df. Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN), via fall (11-0)
SF 2: Christianah OGUNSANYA (NGR) df. Shaimaa MOHAMED (EGY), 10-0

57kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Chaimaa AOUISSI (ALG) df. Natacha NABAINA (CMR), 11-8
SF 2: Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) df. Faten HAMMAMI (TUN), 4-3

62kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) df. Mastoura SOUDANI (ALG), 12-1
SF 2: Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR) df. Angelina RODRIGUES MIRANDA (CPV), 10-0

68kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF1: Tayla FORD (NZL) df. Samah ABDELLATIF (EGY), via fall
SF 2: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) df. Uilau TARKONG (PLW), via fall

76kg Paris Olympic Qualification Bouts
SF 1: Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) df. Samar HAMZA (EGY), via fall (14-8)
SF 2: Hannah RUEBEN (NGR) df. Amy YOUIN (CIV), 6-0

World Champion Azizli Headlines Hungarian Grand Prix Entry List

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Sghaier beats Hamza; New Zealand, Algeria earn historic Paris Olympic spots