#WrestlePlovdiv

#WrestlePlovdiv Senior U23 European Championships Entry List

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - 07:52 By Vinay Siwach

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PLOVDIV, Bulgaria (March 1) -- The first continental championships of the year will be the Senior U23 European Championships that begin March 7 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and continues till March 13.

The freestyle field consists of two senior World Championships medalists and two U23 world champions. A big number of returning medalists have also entered the field as they look to change the color of their medals in Plovdiv.

The Greco-Roman field is even more stacked with several world and continental champions. A few wrestlers will have a chance to win medals that they missed at the last edition in Skopje, North Macedonia.

The women's freestyle entries are star-studded with senior world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) moving up to 68kg. Tokyo Olympians Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) and Andreea ANA (ROU) can also enthrall the fans.

Freestyle

Junior and U23 European champion Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) leads a strong freestyle team for Azerbaijan with teammate senior World bronze medalist Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE) at 86kg. Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE), the junior Worlds silver and returning bronze at 65kg, is also on the team.

Various wrestlers can lay claim to gold medals in the 10 weights class. At 57kg, Horst LEHR (GER), who won a bronze medal at the Oslo Worlds, will be one of the favorites to win the gold.

Throw in returning bronze medalist Emre CIFTCI (TUR) and a three-way battle at 86kg can only spice up things in Plovdiv.

U23 world champion Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) will like to repeat that performance and claim his first-ever continental championships at any level.

Greco-Roman

The most intense battle in the traditional style can ensue at 97kg as three age-group world medalists and returning silver medalists eye the gold.

Returning silver medalist Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO) can be called the favorite to win the gold but bronze medalist from U23 Worlds in Belgrade, Markus RAGGINGER (AUT) is also entered as he hopes to upgrade his bronze from last year.

The big surprise is Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED) who won a silver medal at the Junior Worlds last year at 87kg but jumped up to 97kg for this competition.

Sterkenburg's brother Marcel is entered at 82kg. After winning the junior Worlds gold in Ufa, Russia last year, Marcel will like to add a continental title as well.

But junior Worlds 77kg silver medalist Exauce MUKUBU (NOR) may stop him from doing exactly that.

At 67kg, returning silver medalist Kadir KAMAL (TUR) has the last to win a continental title. He will be challenged by two-time junior world silver medalist Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM). Niklas OEHLEN (SWE), who won the 63kg silver at the last U23 Euros, is also entered at 67kg.

Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM) had a decent 2021 at 72kg as he won the junior and U23 Worlds bronze medals but he will want to begin his 2022 with a gold in Plovdiv. He has the skills to do it but junior Euro champion and World silver Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) will be a big threat.

But if returning bronze Idris IBAEV (GER) can repeat his performance that helped him with the U23 World title in Belgrade last year, Khachatryan and Chkhikvadze will have a tough time.

At 87kg, it's a three-way battle as junior European champion Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN) looks to add a U23 title. But the two returning bronze medalists from last year -- Istvan TAKACS (HUN) former junior world champ, returning bronze. senior 5th and Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM) -- will make life difficult for him.

Takacs is the favorite to win the gold as he has improved since then and even finished fifth at the senior Worlds. Tadevosyan won the Military World Championships last year.

Women's Freestyle

There is little matching the field in women's freestyle. Senior world champion Irina RINGACI (MDA) headlines the entries that also have Tokyo Olympians Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) and Andreea ANA (ROU).

Ringaci is making a comeback since winning the Oslo Worlds at 65kg. She is entered a 68kg. This would well be the start of her Olympic journey since this is the first competition she is wrestling at 68kg after a long time.

Nichita, who won the gold in Istanbul a week ago, is entered at 59kg. She has all the continental titles so the tournament in Plovdiv could well be the warmup for the senior Euros three weeks later.

Silver at junior Euros Anna SZEL (HUN) will also try her luck to win a continental title.

Turkey has gone with young star and cadet world champion Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR) as its entry at 59kg.

At 55kg, five wrestlers can be in line to win the gold. But the favorite will be the U23 world champion and Tokyo Olympian Andreea ANA (ROU). She became the first woman from Romania to win a world title in Belgrade.

Returning silver medalist and bronze in Belgrade, Zeynep YETGIL (TUR) has a big responsibility on her shoulders to lead a young Turkey team in the tournament. A gold in Plovdiv can only fast-track her career.

Junior Worlds silver medalist Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA) and Othelie HOEIE (NOR) will be the other silver medalist looking to challenge Ana and Yetgil.

Returning silver medalist Patrycja GIL (POL) and silver medalist from 59kg, Tamara DOLLAK (HUN) can well be competing for the 57kg gold medal in Plovdiv.

At 72kg, U23 Worlds silver medalist Kendra DACHER (FRA) has a good chance to win the continental title but Junior Worlds silver medalist Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER) can also be a big threat to the gold medal.

Georgios PILIDISGeorgis PILIDIS (GRE) won the U23 World Championships title at 65kg in 2021. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Freestyle

57kg
Edik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Tofig ALIYEV (AZE)
Milenov TISOV (BUL)
Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO)
Horst LEHR (GER)
Demian LIUTCANOV (MDA)
Aid SALIHASI (MKD)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Yusuf DEMIR (TUR)

61kg
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Norik HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Ruhan RASIM (BUL)
Timourovitch ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Ramaz TURMANIDZE (GEO)
Nico MEGERLE (GER)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Nino LEUTERT (SUI)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)

65kg
Hrachya MARGARYAN (ARM)
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Ayub MUSAEV (BEL)
Stilyan ILIEV (BUL)
Said HOSSEINI (FIN)
Ahmed YEZZA (FRA)
Ross CONNELLY (GBR)
Gia UGRELIDZE (GEO)
Leon GERSTENBERGER (GER)
Georgios PILIDIS (GRE)
Karoly KISS (HUN)
Daniel RAFFI (ITA)
Pavel ANDRUSCA (MDA)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Dominik LARITZ (SUI)
Hamza ALACA (TUR)

70kg
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Murad EVLOEV (AZE)
Ivan STOYANOV (BUL)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Shamil USTAEV (GER)
Roland BIRO (HUN)
Raul ZARBALIEV (ISR)
Gianluca COLETTI (ITA)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Viktor VOINOVIC (SRB)
Tobias PORTMANN (SUI)
Omer CAYIR (TUR)

74kg
Menua YARIBEKYAN (ARM)
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Dimitar ANGELOV (BUL)
Erik REINBOK (EST)
Otari BAGAURI (GEO)
Tino RETTINGER (GEO)
Vasile DIACON (MDA)
Szymon WOJTKOWSKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Ismet CIFTCI (TUR)

79kg
Mushegh MKRTCHYAN (ARM)
Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE)
Oktay HASAN (BUL)
Evsem SHVELIDZE (GEO)
Beat SCHAIBLE (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Marton RIZMAJER (HUN)
Grigori CARASTOIAN (MDA)
Patryk CIURZYNSKI (POL)
Abdulvasi BALTA (TUR)

86kg
Mher MARKOSYAN (ARM)
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Anton IVANOV (BUL)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Bagrati GAGNIDZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Angelos KOUKLARIS (GRE)
Milan MESTER (HUN)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Lilian BALAN (MDA)
Cezary SADOWSKI (POL)
Emre CIFTCI (TUR)

92kg
Emiljano ONUZI (ALB)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Ilia HRISTOV (BUL)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Daviti KOGUASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Stylianos STAMATIS (GRE)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN
Auron SYLA (KOS)
Gheorghe ERHAN (MDA)
Redjep HAJDARI (MKD)
Viliam OROSS (SVK)
Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR)

97kg
Islam ILYASOV (AZE)
Tsvetan EVTIMOV (BUL)
Riveri MTSITURI (GEO)
Johannes MAYER (GER)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Stole EFTIMOV (MKD)
Samet OCAK (TUR)

125kg
Hovhannes MAGHAKYAN (ARM)
Aydin AHMADOV (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
Lior ALTSHULER (ISR)
Daniel PIRTACHI (MDA)
Uvejs FEJZULAHU (MKD)
Adil MISIRCI (TUR)

Idris IBAEVIdris IBAEV (GER) is the U23 world champion at 72kg. (Photo: UWW / Mohamed Yahia)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Azat SEDRAKYAN (ARM)
Denis DEMIROV (BUL)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
Steven ECKER (GER)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)

60kg
Tigran MINASYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Miroslav EMILOV (BUL)
Raymond LANGLET (FRA)
Dimitri KHACHIDZE (GEO)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Tommaso BOSI (ITA)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Grzegorz KUNKEL (POL)
Mukremin AKTAS (TUR)

63kg
Vladimir HAROYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Ilia MUSTAKOV (BUL)
Andy JUAN SUCH(ESP)
Giorgi SHOTADZE (GEO)
Levente TOTH (HUN)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Mustafa YILDIRIM (TUR)

67kg
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Nikalas SULEV (BUL)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Nikolaos KALAIDOPOULOS (GRE)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Ignazio SANFILIPPO (ITA)
Konstantinas KESANIDI (LTU)
Kamil CZARNECKI (POL)
Niklas OEHLEN (SWE)
Kadir KAMAL (TUR)

72kg
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Adam HAJIZADA (AZE)
Dimitar STEFCHEV (BUL)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ SILVA MEJIAS (ESP)
Joni KOMPPA (FIN)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Georgios SOTIRIADIS (GRE)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Steve MOMILIA (ITA)
Vilius SAVICKAS  (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Erik PERSSON (SWE)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)

77kg
Ashot KIRAKOSYAN (ARM)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Martin DIMITROV (BUL)
Edvin KIN (EST)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Davit SOLOGASHVILI (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Andreas VASILAKOPOULOS (GRE)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Niko NIKOLADZE (ISR)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Rasmus AASTROEM (SWE)
Abdurrahman KALKAN (TUR)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Intigam VALIZADA (AZE)
Zahari ZASHEV (BUL)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Erik LOESER (GER)
Ilias PAGKALIDIS (GRE)
Andras MEZEI (HUN)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Arminas LYGNUGARIS (LTU)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Branko KOVACEVIC (SRB)
Samet YALDIRAN (TUR)

87kg
Gevorg TADEVOSYAN (ARM)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Kaloyan IVANOV (BUL)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Turpan BISULTANOV (DEN)
Andreas VAELIS (EST)
Saba DJAVAKHICHVILI(FRA)
Beka MELELASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos IOSIFIDIS (GRE)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Ruben BEEN (NOR)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Christian ZEMP (SUI)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUR)
Mariyan MARINOV (BUL)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Loic SAMEN (FRA)
Giorgi KATSANASHVILI (GEO)
Patrick NEUMAIER (GER)
Arnoldas BARANOVAS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Aleksandar SIMOVIC (SRB)
Mustafa OLGUN (TUR)

130kg
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Giorgi TSOPURASHVILI (GEO)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
Alberto META (ITA)
Tomasz WAWRZYNCZYK (POL)
Fatih BOZKURT (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)

Irina RINGACIIrina RINGACI (MDA) is the 65kg world champion. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Freestyle

50kg
Shahana NAZAROVA (AZE)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Lisa ERSEL (GER)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Maria LEORDA (MDA)
Amanda TOMCZYK (POL)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)

53kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Nazife TAIR (BUL)
Chadia AYACHI (FRA)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
Carmen DI DIO (ITA)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Marija SPIRKOVSKA (MKD)
Beatrice FERENT (ROU)
Rahime ARI (TUR)

55kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Irena BINKOVA (BUL)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Wiktoria KARWOWSKA (POL)
Andreea ANA (ROU)
Mariia MARTYNCHUK (SVK)
Nova BERGMAN (SWE)
Zeynep YETGIL (TUR)

57kg
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Maria BAEZ DILONE (ESP)
Tamara DOLLAK (HUN)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Denisa FODOR (ROU)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)

59kg
Fatme SHABAN (BUL)
Anne NUERNBERGER (GER)
Anna SZEL (HUN)
Morena DE VITA (ITA)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)

62kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Kelsey BARNES (GBR)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Alina ANTIPOVA (LAT)
Viktoria OEVERBY (NOR)
Paulina DANISZ (POL)
Anna FABIAN (SRB)
Merve KARADENIZ (TUR)

65kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Nerea PAMPIN BLANCO (ESP)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Chiara HIRT (GER)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Ewelina CIUNEK (POL)
Amina CAPEZAN (ROU)
Yagmur CAKMAK (TUR)

68kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Siyka IVANOVA (BUL)
Marta OJEDA NAVARRO (ESP)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noemi SZABADOS (HUN)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Karolina KOZLOWSKA ((POL)
Adina IRIMIA (ROU)
Olha MASLOVSKA (SVK)
Asli DEMIR (TUR)

72kg
Marta PAJULA (EST)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Tuende ELEKES (HUN)
Eleni PJOLLAJ (ITA)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Maria NITU (ROU)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Merve PUL (TUR)

76kg
Vanesa KALOYANOVA (BUL)
Carla LERA CELDA (ESP)
Bernadett NAGY (HUN)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Lolita OBOLEVICA (LAT)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Marion BYE (NOR)
Mehtap GULTEKIN (TUR)

#BeachWrestling

Algeria sweeps African Beach Wrestling Championships

Saturday, September 13, 2025 - 12:23 By United World Wrestling Press

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CASABLANCA, Morocco (September 12) -- Rising African heavyweight prodigies, Skander BENMOHAMED (ALG) and Billel BALI (ALG) guided Algeria to the team title of the U17 African Beach Wrestling Championship.

Algeria also bagged the women’s team title, led by a dominating double gold display by Meriem Safiya GRIB (ALG), thus completing a stellar show at the continental competition held in Casablanca, Morocco, on September 4 and 5.

The serene Ain Diab beach, with its gleaming sands and turquoise waters, hosted the best U15, U17, and U20 African talents for the two-day competition. The age-group tournaments were held before the Beach Wrestling World Series event, which was held for the first time in an African city, underlining United World Wrestling’s commitment to increasing the sport’s presence in Africa.

Over the two days of action, wrestling aficionados got a glimpse of some of the best talent from the continent. For many, this was also a build-up to the Dakar Youth Olympic Games, which are less than 500 days away.

From an African point of view, Algeria set an early marker. With two gold medals in the men’s events, in the 80 and 90 kg, and one in the women’s section, the country’s wrestlers dominated the proceedings and finished on top of the overall team rankings in the U17 age group.

Benmohamed, who won the U17 African Championships bronze medals earlier this year in mat wrestling, reigned supreme in the 90kg category.

In his first bout, the 17-year-old edged out Aboubacar Demba CAMARA (GUI) in a close affair before coming into his own and stamping his authority over Ali OUIDAD (MAR) 3-0 and Rihan BRITS (RSA) 3-0 to finish on top of the four-man round-robin draw. With three wins out of three, Benmohamed finished ahead of Ouidad to win the gold medal.

Benmohamed completed a super double by winning the gold medal in the U20 category as well. The Algerian defeated Lahcen AIT ELASRI (MAR) and Mohamed Amine EL MEKKAOUI (MAR) for a double podium finish.

Bali had a chance to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot. In the U17 80kg, Bali blanked Fahd RAZKANE (MAR) for a win by superiority in less than a minute-and-a-half to win the gold medal. However, in the U20 event, he could win just once and finished fourth in the five-man field.

Elbara BENAMMAR (ALG) added a third medal to Algeria's kitty in the men’s U17 category by winning the bronze in the 60kg category. Benammar began strongly by defeating Ernest DIATTA (SEN) and David Kanyimbu Mputu De DEUS (ANG) on technical superiority. However, he lost to Dan KEGODE (KEN) in the third round and then went down once again to Ibrahim DOSSO (CIV) in the semifinals.

Benammar shrugged off the disappointments to finish his campaign with another win by superiority over Hatim RAJAY (MAR) to take home the bronze medal.

With that, Algeria finished with a total of 77 points, ahead of second-placed Morocco (62) and Angola (35), who finished third.

In the women’s U17 category, Grib won both her bouts without conceding a point to reign supreme in the 45kg weight class. Grib defeated Islam BENZBIRIA (MAR) 3-0 in the first round and then got the better of Tahirisoa Tinah ANDRIANAMBININA (MAD) by a similar margin.

Like Benmohamed, Grib too won two titles as she claimed the gold in the U15 category as well, conceding just one point in the three wins.

Algeria came close to a second women’s gold medal in the U17 category but Dounia ZITOUNI was beaten by Hajar KANEB (MAR) 4-2 in the 55kg final. Zitouni won the gold medal in style, after she remained undefeated throughout the competition.

Jemimah Maghumicha WANJALA (KEN) won the 65kg gold medal without conceding a single point. In the final, which lasted less than a minute, Wanjala beat Malak Khaled Fahmy Abdelhamid ABDELGAUL (EGY) on technical superiority, just like her two wins en route to the title clash.

The gold medal in the 75kg category went to Khady Diandy BADJI (SEN), with Dune van ZYL (RSA) taking the silver while Malak SABRY (MAR) won the bronze.

Algeria were close to a gold medal clean sweep in the U20 category. They won gold medals in three out of the four weight categories in the men’s competition to win the team title. But Omar LAMBARRAA (MAR) halted their juggernaut by winning the 80kg title ahead of Bakary SOM (CIV) and Ivan LOUW (RSA).

While Bali could not finish among the medals in U20, his compatriots looked in sublime form.

Watik Aymen TITOUS (ALG) defeated Luvaan LOUW (RSA) 3-1 in the final of the 70kg category to finish on the top of the podium. Titous was largely untested throughout the competition, beating Eugine Osale OMULULE (KEN) and Saad MARIRE (MAR) without conceding a point to storm into the semifinals, where he defeated Nathan Lee STOLTZ (RSA) by technical superiority.

In the +90kg category, Noureddine BOUROUFA (ALG) won two bouts out of two without conceding a point to take home the gold medal ahead of Ruan BRITS (RSA) and Ayoub BELGADI (MAR).

In the women’s event, Kenyan wrestlers were dominant, winning two out of the three gold medals on offer. Ivyone Lusike MASIBO (KEN) reigned supreme in the 60kg class, defeating Fatima Zahra BOUCHIBI (ALG) and Hiba KABIL (MAR) to finish on top in a tough four-wrestler field. At 70kg, Faith Nanjala WAMALWA (KEN) defeated Dyvonter Ashly ODONGO (KEN) in an all-Kenyan affair to win the gold medal.

Yasmine BOUREGBA (ALG) won the title in the +70kg category, defeating Hafsa ECH CHABBI by technical superiority.

Algerian women and men, meanwhile, won two gold medals each as they won the team titles in the U15 sections to extend their dominance on the beach.

Younes MOUSSI (ALG) set the ball rolling by finishing on top in the 50kg category, winning both his bouts in dominating fashion. Later, Houdaifa BARKAT (ALG) defeated Mignane NDONG (SEN) to win the 55kg gold medal.

Senegalese beach wrestlers showed spunk after Mbaye NIANG and Ibrahima SARR picked up the 60kg and 75kg titles, with Michael OOSTHUIZEN (RSA) rallying to the top of the podium in 65kg.

Senegal won two more gold medals in the women’s section. Fatou Bintou COLY (SEN) ensured Algeria did not complete a golden hat-trick as she defeated Soudjoud BOULEBDA (ALG) in a crucial third-round bout to win the gold medal. Both wrestlers had won their opening two matches. In the winner-takes-all Round 3, Coly beat her Algerian rival on superiority for the title. Similarly, Elisabeth DIATTA beat Tasnim CHOUIHI (ALG) to win the 60kg gold medal.

Algerian wrestlers, meanwhile, won the two lightest weight categories. While Grib opened Algeria’s account with the 45kg gold medal, Maram Yamna BOUKHIBAR (ALG) finished ahead of Shalying JOY (KEN) and Ndeye Codou SENGHOR (SEN) to win the 50kg title.

Kenya’s Janet Inwesi OMUMASABA won the 65 kg gold, beating Higidia Januario De Gouveia LEITE (ANG) by technical superiority.