#WrestleIstanbul

#WrestleIstanbul: World Champ Dudova Ready to Make 62kg Her Own

Tuesday, February 22, 2022 - 03:30 By Vinay Siwach

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ISTANBUL, Turkey (February 22) -- The chants of 'bravo, bravo' filled the Dan Kolov stadium as Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL) emerged as the new star at 62kg for Bulgaria.

The world champion at 59kg defeated Bulgaria's mainstay at 62kg, Taybe YUSEIN (BUL), in the final of the prestigious Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov tournament,7-2, and laid claim at the Olympic weight. Now, it will be a two-way battle for the spot on the national team for the Paris Olympics. 

For a wrestler who has been juggling her weight for the majority of her career, Dudova hopes that she can finally settle in the new weight class which is easier and healthier for her.

"When I was cadet, I was around 60kg but not the best wrestler in Bulgaria," Dudova said. "There were other good girls, so coaches used to tell me to reduce my weight so I can participate internationally. Otherwise, I will be only training and losing.

"I have been training for 10 years and I was undecided on 57kg or 62kg," Dudova said. "But 62kg is close to my natural weight so I decided to go for this. Also, with two-morning weigh-ins, it's difficult to cut weight to 57kg."

The weight category is filled with strong wrestlers from around the world. Two-time world champion Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), Olympic champion Yukako KAWAI (JPN), young star Iryna Koliadenko (UKR), world silver medalist Kayla MIRACLE (USA) and upcoming Nonoka OZAKI (JPN).

But first, the 24-year-old needs to get past the Tokyo bronze medalist and compatriot Yusein.

In January, she wrestled at her first tournament, the Bulgarian Championships, at 62kg. As expected, she faced Yusein in the final. Dudova lost 2-1, but took the lessons from the loss seriously.

"I lost to her [Yusein] but now it's reversed," she said. "This year is just a warm-up for me in this weight. I need some time to adjust accordingly. Training and hard work are the only things that can help you get success. This year may be difficult for me but I'll do it."

As far as body weight is concerned, Dudova began her international career in 2013 wrestling at 60kg. Back then, she hoped to be the 63kg wrestler for her country. But Yusein was an established star at the weight. She even qualified Bulgaria for the 2016 Olympics with a bronze medal at the 2015 Worlds.

Dudova had no choice to reduce weight to 55kg. She even went down to 53kg in the hope to qualify for the Rio Olympics. Unfortunately, it only troubled her with health issues.

Soon after Rio, she moved up to 57kg and won a silver medal at Budapest Worlds. But winning the gold at the '21 World Championships in Oslo, her first world title, gave Dudova the confidence to make the switch to 62kg.

"That was one of the best times for me," she said. "I was so happy. It gave me confidence which is important to take this big step and move on."

The European champion, however, is not new to challenges in her life.

She lost her mother at 14 years of age. Brought up by her grandmother, it was just by chance that Dudova ended up in wrestling. Athletics was her first love.

"I was 12 when I first trained in wrestling," she recalls. "I loved athletics and practiced in 400m. Everyone said that I am perfect for sports."

During her off-season after athletics competitions, it was her uncle that asked Dudova to pay a visit to the wrestling hall. Her uncle, father and others were regular to the gym for their fitness training.

"I went just for fun," Dudova, who is a trained Bulgarian folklore singer, said. "The coach asked me to do some pull-ups and I did little. But he liked my strength and asked me to train."

Since it was off-season, she even participated in a tournament.

"After one month I participated in a tournament I got bronze. I was angry to lose and wanted to win. So I kept training. I lost in the Bulgarian Championships for kids. I trained harder. The ambition to win grew."

That ambition made her go to the wrestling hall again. Training with boys was the only option and she continued that until making the cadet team for Bulgaria.

For the first four years, Dudova did not finish with any medals until she kick-started her career with a Junior European bronze.

Now, she has senior European titles in three different weights and with another European Championships just a month away, Dudova says it will be special to win it at four different weights.

"I am studying all opponents at 62kg," she says.

As a warm-up before the European Championships in Budapest, Dudova will be in Istanbul for the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series event. There too, she is expected to meet Yusein for the third time in two months.

If things fall in place, Dudova won't mind the chants of 'bravo, bravo' again.

#WrestleTirana

European Championships 2026 Entries

Monday, April 6, 2026 - 07:28 By United World Wrestling Press

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TIRANA, Albania (April 6) -- The European Championships will be held in Tirana, Albania from April 20 to 27 with more than 400 wrestlers.

Greco-Roman will kick off action at the European Championships on Monday followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle. For all the live action and highlights, subscribe to UWW+.

READ THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026 PREVIEW

Note: The entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draw of respective styles. Please refer to uww.org for latest entries.

Freestyle

57kg
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Ivaylo TISOV (BUL)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Ion BULGARU (MDA)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Azamat TUSKAEV (SRB)
Yusuf DEMIR (TUR)
Roman HUTSULIAK (UKR)
Aryan TSIUTRYN (UWW)
Musa MEKHTIKHANOV (UWW)

61kg
Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Erdal GALIP (BUL)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Vladimir EGOROV (MKD)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Kamil KERYMOV (UKR)
Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW)
Zavur UGUEV (UWW)

65kg
Islam DUDAEV (ALB)
Vazgen TEVANYAN (ARM)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Shamil MAMEDOV (BUL)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Ahmet DUMAN (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Bashir MAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Islam GUSEINOV (UWW)

70kg
Davit MARGARYAN (ARM)
Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Alexandr GAIDARLI (MDA)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Benjamin BOEJTHE (ROU)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Oleksii BORUTA (UKR)
David BAEV (UWW)
George KOLIEV (UWW)

74kg
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ibragim VELIEV (BEL)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Seyfulla ITAEV (FRA)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Omer CAYIR (TUR)
Ihor NYKYFORUK (UKR)
Nikita DMITRIJEVS MAYEUSKI (UWW)
Farhad NOURIKHORJESTAN (UWW)
Timur BIZHOEV (UWW)

79kg
Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Aykan SEID (BUL)
Mohammad MOTTAGHINIA (ESP)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Ion MARCU (MDA)
Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Okan TAHTACI (TUR)
Vasyl MYKHAILOV (UKR)
Akhmed USMANOV (UWW)
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (UWW)

86kg
Mate KOLA (ALB)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Gabriel IGLESIAS RAMOS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Gabriele NICCOLINI (ITA)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Osman GOCEN (TUR)
Denys BYKOV (UKR)
Ibragim KADIEV (UWW)

92kg
Albin PEPOSHI (ALB)
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Ahmed BATAEV (BUL)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Samhan JABRAILOV (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Igor SZUCKI (POL)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR)
Mukhammed ALIIEV (UKR)
Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW)
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (UWW)

97kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Ertugrul AGCA (GER)
Theodoros KYRIAKIDIS (GRE)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Shaqir BISLIMI (KOS)
Redjep HAJDARI (MDA)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Rifat GIDAK (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (UWW)
Aliaksandr HUSHTYN (UWW)

125kg
Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Mohsen SIYAR (GER)
Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE)
Vlagyiszlav BAJCAJEV (HUN)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Magomedgadji NUROV (MKD)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Omar SAREM (ROU)
Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Shamil MUSAEV (UWW)

Riza KAYAALP (TUR)Riza KAYAALP (TUR) will aim to win his 13th European gold medal. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Adalberto MINAZZI (ITA)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Omer RECEP (TUR)
Ivan STEFANSKYI (UKR)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)

60kg
Bajram SINA (ALB)
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Borislav KIRILOV (BUL)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Jamal VALIZADEH (UWW)
Suner KONUNOV (UWW)

63kg
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Tino Tapio OJALA (FIN)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Miguel LOUREIRO (POR)
Ionut MEREUTA (ROU)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Maksym LIU (UKR)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
William REENBERG (DEN)
Yanis GUENDEZ NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Erzu ZAKRIEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)

72kg
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Kamil CZARNECKI (POL)
Joao DUARTE SIMOES (POR)
Henrik DAHLEN (SWE)
Cengiz ARSLAN (TUR)
Dmytro VASYLIEV (UKR)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Kamil AKHMETVALEEV (UWW)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Edvin BAFF (SWE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Irfan MIRZOIEV (UKR)
Sergei STEPANOV (UWW)
Shuai MAMEDAU (UWW)

82kg
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Svetoslav NIKOLOV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Viktor NEMES (SRB)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)

87kg
Marjan KOLA (ALB)
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Dogan KAYA (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Alan OSTAEV (UWW)
Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Alex BJURBERG KESSIDIS (SWE)
Abdul Kadir CEBI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)

130kg
Griseldi KODRA (ALB)
Albert VARDANYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Apostolos TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Riza KAYAALP (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Marat KAMPAROV (UWW)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)

Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR) will return to defend her 76kg title. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Emilia GRIGORE VUC (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Evin DEMIRHAN YAVUZ (TUR)
Oksana LIVACH (UKR)
Natallia VARAKINA (UWW)
Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW)

53kg
Carla JAUME SOLER (ESP)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Annika WENDLE (GER)
Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)
Gerda TEREK (HUN)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Jonna MALMGREN (SWE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)
Mariia YEFREMOVA (UKR)
Natalia MALYSHEVA (UWW)
Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (UWW)

55kg
Oleksandra KOGUT (AUT)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Veronika RJABOVOLOVA (MKD)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW)

57kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Olga POPOVA (BUL)
Lydia PEREZ TOURINO (ESP)
Jenna HEMIAE (FIN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Felicitas DOMAJEVA (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK LISZEWSKA (POL)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Elvira SULEYMAN KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Aleksandra SKIRENKO (UWW)
Aryna DZEMCHANKA MARTYNAVA (UWW)

59kg
Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE)
Viktoria BOYNOVA (BUL)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Anna TIELIEGINA (LTU)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Bediha GUN (TUR)
Mariia VYNNYK (UKR)
Marta HETMANAVA (UWW)
Svetlana LIPATOVA (UWW)

62kg
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Naemi LEISTNER (GER)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Alicja WOJEWODZKA NOWOSAD (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Johanna LINDBORG (SWE)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR)
Amina TANDELOVA (UWW)
Veranika IVANOVA (UWW)

65kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Nina BODISTEANU (MDA)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Kriszta INCZE (ROU)
Kerstin NYGREN (SWE)
Beyza AKKUS (TUR)
Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR)
Alina KASABIEVA (UWW)

68kg
Albina DRAZHI (ALB)
Daniela BRASNAROVA (BUL)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Karolina DOMASZUK (POL)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Alina SHAUCHUK (UWW)
Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW)

72kg
Karolina POK (HUN)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Alina ANTIPOVA (LAT)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Buse CAVUSOGLU TOSUN (TUR)
Nadiia SOKOLOVSKA (UKR)
Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW)
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (UWW)

76kg
Martina KUENZ (AUT)
Vanesa GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Jennifer ROESLER (GER)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Patrycja CUBER (POL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Fanni NAGY NAD (SRB)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (UWW)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (UWW)