#WrestleUlaanbaatar

#WrestleUlaanbaatar: Three must-watch match-ups at Asian Championships

Tuesday, April 12, 2022 - 12:20 By Vinay Siwach

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (April 12) -- After a three-year gap, China and Japan make their return to the Asian Championships. The participation of the continent's most dominant teams automatically increases the quality of wrestling -- especially women's wrestling -- at next week's tournament in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

As few rivalries will be revived, and some fresh faces will also be in action, the tournament becomes a must-watch for wrestling fans around the world.

United World Wrestling has also picked three rivalries that will be the highlight of the tournament.

Freestyle
57kg -- Ravi KUMAR (IND) vs Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

Kumar and Abdullaev only wrestled once in six years. But in the last 10 months, they have wrestled three more times. Two of the most exciting wrestlers at 57kg keep raising the bar every time they meet on the mat, and out of the four, only one bout has been one-sided.

Back in 2016, the two clashed in the repechage round of the Junior World Championships, where Abdullaev defeated Kumar, 12-7. The bout in France had Abdullaev using his well-timed attacks and later kept Kumar's attacks at a distance. Kumar wore out the Uzbekistan wrestler but could not finish his attacks and only scored three takedowns.

The two met five years after that bout with Kumar winning 10-0 in the first round at the Poland Open Ranking Series event last year. But Abdullaev avenged that loss with a 7-5 win in the final of the same tournament at 61kg.

Their most recent meeting was at the Yasar Dogu Ranking Series event in Istanbul and undoubtedly it was the match of the tournament. At 61kg, the two collided in the final and the back-and-forth bout saw the lead change hands four times. Kumar won 11-10 thanks to a four-point throw from the Indian.

While Kumar has won the Asian title, World bronze and Olympics silver medal, Abdullaev has shown signs of being one of the best in the weight class. He was seconds away from upsetting world and Olympic champ Zavur UGUEV (RWF) in Tokyo and has always troubled Kumar.

His sneaky attacks and Kumar's constant high-pressure wrestling will be on display in Ulaanbaatar and Abdullaev would like to survive the six minutes to once again lead in the head-to-head record.

The two can only meet in the final of the 12-man bracket as Kumar is seeded number one and Abdullaev in the second spot.

Tynybekova OzakiAisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) and Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) wrestled at 62kg in Oslo. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Women's Wrestling
62kg -- Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) vs Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)

Tynybekova is a two-time World champion and Olympic silver medalist. Ozaki has only lost once since making her cadet debut in 2018. When the two clash in Ulaanbaatar, it could Ozaki's arrival on the big stage.

At the Oslo World Championships, the two met in the opening round at 62kg and Ozaki took a 4-0 lead at the break and Tynybekova looked in deep trouble. Ozaki's quick attacks did catch Tynybekova off-guard. But as clutch as she is, the Tokyo silver medalist responded with two takedowns and added another late in the bout to win 6-4.

Ozaki, 19, was let down by her inexperience but may come better prepared for a rematch. The two can only meet in the final being the top-two seeds.

Tynybekova will have to return to her previous levels after suffering a first-round loss at the Ranking Series event in Istanbul against Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA). 

Ozaki, who would have noticed that loss, will be fresh after coming off with a gold-winning performance at the Queen's Cup in Japan.

Sailike WALIHANSailike WALIHAN (CHN) is a bronze medalist from Tokyo Olympics. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman
67kg - Sailike WALIHAN (CHN) vs Hansu RYU (KOR)

Walihan and Ryu were at the Tokyo Olympics but in different weight classes. The Chinese wrestler rose above expectations to win the bronze medal at 60kg while Ryu finished seventh at 67kg. But with Walihan jumping up to 67kg, the two are most likely to meet in Ulaanbaatar.

As the two have never wrestled before, it will be a test for Walihan as he is increasing his weight to compete in a very loaded field at 67kg. His opponent Ryu is a two-time world champion and is the last of the cream of Korean Greco-Roman wrestling. Using his experience and skill set, he will be the favorite against Walihan.

But Ryu must be aware that Walihan's defense in Asian Olympic Qualifiers and later the Olympic Games gave him win to first reach Tokyo and then win China's first Greco-Roman Olympic medal since 2008, respectively.

Ryu is seeded number one and Walihan is unseeded in the weight class which means that the two can clash in any match of the bracket.

All the action in Mongolia begins next Tuesday, April 19-24, and can be followed live on www.uww.org.

#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)