Women's World Cup

World Cup to Include Sweden

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (February 11) -- United World Wrestling has announced that Sweden will replace Turkey at the 2018 Women's World Cup in Takasaki Japan.

Sweden was the 9th ranked team at the 2017 World Championships, with Turkey finishing 5th. Below is a list of the entries for the World Cup, with the Group Draws to be determined in the coming weeks and announced on the UWW homepage.

  1. Japan
  2. Belarus
  3. United States
  4. Mongolia
  5. Canada
  6. China
  7. Romania 
  8. Sweden

The Women's World Cup will be held March 17th and 18th in Takasaki, Japan. There have been 16 previous World Cups with Japan winning 9 team titles, China 6 and the United States 1.

Olympic silver medalist Oborududu announces retirement

By Vinay Siwach

NIGERIA (June 6) -- Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) announced her retirement last week, ending a memorable career in wrestling.

The 36-year-old called it quits at the National Sports Festival in Abeokuta, a tournament she made her first appearance as a young wrestler in 2006.

In a career spanning 19 years, Oborududu won the African Championships 13 times, became the first African wrestler to win Olympic silver medal in Women's Wrestling and finished fifth at the Paris Olympics.

Oborududu participated won her first gold at the African Championships in 2010 and maintained her winning streak at the tournament for 15 years. 

“I want to thank everyone who has been part of my journey: the Nigeria Wrestling Federation led by Daniel IGALI, the board members, my teammates, and my family,” Oborududu was quoted as saying by the Nigeria media. "I created a lot of memories, but my most memorable one was the Tokyo Olympics, which ignited hope across Africa. It was the first-ever medal by an African woman in wrestling at the Olympics, and I hope more will come for future wrestlers."

At the sports festival, Oborududu helped Team Bayelsa clinch gold medal in her final bout at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival. He later received a farewell from teammates, officials and fans.