#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Ranking Series entry list

By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 20) -- Wrestling fans will be treated to a grand season-opening Ranking Series event as Zagreb Open will see close to 600 wrestlers on the mat next month.

All three styles have big stars coming to set the tone for an important season which also includes Paris Olympics qualifying World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Croatian capital will see Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Kyle SNYDER (USA), Ravi KUMAR (IND), Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), J'den COX (USA), Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) on the mat in freestyle.

Women's wrestling will see a strong Japanese team including world and Olympic champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) entered for the competition. Most of the Japanese team comprises the winners of the Emperor's Cup from December. The USA is also bringing a strong women's team with Helen MAROULIS (USA), Kayla MIRACLE (USA), Yelena MAKOYED (USA) among others.

Canada, China and India will also be represented by strong squads and the competition will see most wrestlers shifting to Olympic weight classes as well.

The Greco-Roman battles will restart as Iran, Azerbaijan and Hungary are bringing full squads. Most of the European countries are also entered means the likes of the Sterkenburg twins from the Netherlands and Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) are also entered.

The competition begins February 1 with freestyle followed by women's wrestling and ending with Greco-Roman.

All the live action and highlights can be accessed at uww.org or on the official UWW app.

Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will return to mat in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Valentin DAMOUR (FRA)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Aman AMAN (IND)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Rikuto ARAI (JPN)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)
Darian Toi CRUZ (PUR)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)

61kg
Adam BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
PANKAJ (IND)
Reza ATRI (IRI)
Narankhuu NARMANDAKH (MGL)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Daniel DESHAZER (USA)
 
65kgAgustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Joshua FINESILVER (ISR)
Ryoma ANRAKU (JPN)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Eduard GRIGOREV (POL)
Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR)
Evan HENDERSON (USA)
Joseph MC KENNA (USA)
Nicholas LEE (USA)

70kg
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
AGUDAMU (CHN)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Temuulen ENKHTUYA (MGL)
Alec PANTALEO (USA)
Hayden HIDLAY (USA)
Tyler BERGER (USA)
 
74kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Miroslav KIROV (BUL)
Emmanuel OLAPADE (CAN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Jasmit PHULKA (CAN)
Shengsong XIA (CHN)
Nuerlanbieke WURENIBAI (CHN)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Kirin KINOSHITA (JPN)
Kojiro SHIGA (JPN)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Joseph LAVALLEE (USA)
Thomas GANTT JR (USA)
Jason NOLF (USA)

79kg
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Callum MCNEICE (CAN)
Peilong LI (CHN)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Ramazan SARI (TUR)
Chandler MARSTELLER (USA)
 
86kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Xiao SUN (CHN)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Ruslan VALIEV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Mark HALL (USA)

92kg
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Pruthviraj PATIL (IND)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Radoslaw MARCINKIEWICZ (POL)
Jonathan AIELLO (USA)
Kollin MOORE (USA)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Sahil SEHRAWAT (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Morgan SMITH (USA)
Jden COX (USA)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Reheman RUSIDANMU (CHN)
Benxin DUAN (CHN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
DINESH (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Hayden ZILLMER (USA)
Jordan WOOD (USA)
Ceron FRANCISCO (USA)

Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)Koumba LARROQUE (FRA), blue, will compete at 68kg at the Zagreb Open. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Patricia BERMUDEZ (ARG)
Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)
Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Meng FAN (CHN)
Jiang ZHU (CHN)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Shivani PAWAR (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Erin GOLSTON (USA)
Jasmina IMMAEVA (UZB)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)

53kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Diana WEICKER (CAN)
Yuhong ZHONG (CHN)
Li DENG (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Tetiana PROFATILOVA (FRA)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Vivien MATYI (HUN)
Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN)
Sushma SHOKEEN (IND)
Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Ahinsa FERNANDO (SRI)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)
Dominique PARRISH (USA)
Alisha HOWK (USA)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

55kg
Dorcas JOSE (ANG)
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Lauren MASON (USA)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

57kg
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Tianna KENNETT (CAN)
Hannah TAYLOR (CAN)
Alexandria TOWN (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Ningning RONG (CHN)
Lana NOGIC (CRO)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Anna SZEL (HUN)
SITO (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Sae NANJO (JPN)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Helen MAROULIS (USA)
Alexandra HEDRICK (USA)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

59kg
Lidia VUVU (ANG)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Viktoria BORSOS (HUN)
Yui SAKANO (JPN)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)

62kg
Sara LANDO (ANG)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
Taybe YUSEIN (BUL)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
ZHUOMALAGA (CHN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Xiaojuan LUO (CHN)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Lauren LOUIVE (USA)
Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
Ariukhan JUMABAEVA (UZB)
Dilfuza AIMBETOVA (UZB)

65kg
Iva GERIC (CRO)
BHATERI (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Forrest MOLINARI (USA)
Mallory VELTE (USA)
Emma BRUNTIL (USA)

68kg
Sofiya GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Olivia DI BACCO (CAN)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
RADHIKA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Natalia STRZALKA (POL)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Marilyn GARCIA (USA)
Solin PIEARCY (USA)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)

72kg
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
REETIKA (IND)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Sumire NIIKURA (JPN)
Skylar GROTE (USA)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

76kg
Taylor FOLLENSBEE (CAN)
Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Juan WANG (CHN)
Qian ZHOU (CHN)
Genesis REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Samar HAMZA (EGY)
Cynthia VESCAN (FRA)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
KIRAN (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Ayano MORO (JPN)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Precious BELL (USA)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) and Seyed SHORABI (IRI) will resume their rivalry at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
MANJEET (IND)
Mohammad JAVAHERI FARID (IRI)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Dalton DUFFIELD (USA)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Liguo CAO (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Nikolai MOHAMMADI (DEN)
Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
GYANENDER (IND)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Maito KAWANA (JPN)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Michal TRACZ (POL)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Randon MIRANDA (USA)

63kg
Mbiayavanga ADRIANO (ANG)
Aker AL OBAIDI (AUT)
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
SAGAR (IND)
Aref Hossein MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Jesse THIELKE (USA)
Samuel JONES (USA)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

67kg
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Husiyuetu HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Lei LI (CHN)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Elmer MATTILA (FIN)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
Karanjit SINGH (IND)
ASHU (IND)
Reza Mahdi ABBASI (IRI)
Seyed SOHRABI (IRI)
Eito NISHIDA (JPN)
Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

72kg
Stefan STEIGL (AUT)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Jian TAN (CHN)
Lovro ZURAK (CRO)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Jiri CAPEK (CZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Sajjad Ali IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI)
Amir ABDI (IRI)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Britton HOLMES (USA)
Patrick SMITH (USA)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Jamol JUMABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Francisco KADIMA (ANG)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
SAJAN (IND)
Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI)
Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Minto MAEDA (JPN)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Kodai SAKURABA (JPN)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Per KURE (NOR)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Maksym ZAKHARCHUK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Tunjay VAZIRZADE (AZE)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Marcel HEIN (DEN)
Ranet KALJOLA (EST)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Pejman POSHTAM (IRI)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Spencer WOODS (USA)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

87kgBachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Lukas STAUDACHER (AUT)
Mahammad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Chengwu WANG (CHN)
Maimaiti KAISAIER (CHN)
Yi YANG (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
SUSHANT (IND)
Hamidreza BADKAN (IRI)
Naser ALIZADEH (IRI)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Masato SUMI (JPN)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Zarko DICKOV (SRB)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Alan VERA GARCIA (USA)
Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

97kg
Mawete KIANGEBENI (ANG)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Zamir MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Yan LIU (CHN)
Yiming LI (CHN)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Loic SAMEN (FRA)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Lucas SHERIDAN (USA)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

130kg
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
NAVEEN (IND)
Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)
Amir GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Sota OKUMURA (JPN)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafal KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Tanner FARMER (USA)
Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB)

#WrestleSamokov

U20 Worlds: Japan gets 2 more finalists, Kajal stuns Robinson

By Vinay Siwach

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 21) -- Two-time World U20 silver medalist Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) earned herself a chance to finally win the gold medal as she reached the final for the third time at 50kg in Samokov on Thursday.

The U.S. wrestler scored three technical superiority wins in three bouts to reach the final in which she will take on 2023 world U17 champion Rinka OGAWA (JPN) also looks in good form.

In the semifinals, Jimenez used her leg-lace to good effect and humbled Diana RYSOVA (UKR), 14-3. Ogawa also used the leg-lace to beat SHRUTI  (IND), 10-0.

Jimenez had reached the final in 2022 but lost to Umi ITO (JPN) and then in 2023, she lost to Yanrong LI (CHN) to finish with a silver medal. She also has a silver medal from World U23 Championships after dropping the final against Ito again.

Japan got its second finalist on Thursday when Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) pinned Abigale COOPER (USA) after building a 9-0 lead. She will now wrestle for gold against European U20 champion Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR) who leg-laced SAARIKA (IND) for a 10-0 win.

At 72kg, Asian U20 champion and world U17 silver medalist this year KAJAL (IND) stunned defending champion Jasmine ROBINSON (USA) in a wild semifinal. Robinson got the first takedown and exposure for a 4-0 lead. But Kajal scored a takedown and turned Robinson in the same sequence. The U.S. challenged the second turn but it was given two points as Kajal took a 5-4 lead.

There was no turning back for the Indian from that as she scored two four-point throws and two takedowns in her 13-6 win over Robinson.

Kajal now chance the challenge of returning silver medalist Yuqi LIU (CHN) who dominated her semifinal against Haticenur SARI (TUR) and won 13-2. Liu will look to her upgrade silver from last year to gold.

Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM) reached the 60kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman action also began at the World U20 Championships Samokov on Thursday with two weight classes -- 60kg and 82kg.

Two 18-year-olds reached the 60kg final in Greco-Roman as European U20 champion Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE) and Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM) won their respective semifinals in dominant fashion.

Javadov was wrestling senior European bronze medalist Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO) and scored a headlock for four and kept Lolua on the mat for a fall. This was Javadov's third win over Lolua in four encounters.

The 2024 world U17 champion will now face Mkhitaryan who gut-wrenched SURAJ (IND) after a headlock throw for four and win 8-0. India challenged the decision but lost it to add one more point to his score.

At 82kg, a potential rematch from 2023 World U17 Championships final was denied after Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN) lost his semifinal at 82kg to Asian U20 champion Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ).

Yoshida, a returning bronze medalist, was put in par terre in the first period and Seitkaliyev hit suplex for four before turning Yoshida twice to win 9-0.

In the other semifinal, European U20 champion Mikhail SHKARIN (UWW) blanked Martik PETROSYAN (ARM), 9-0. Shkarin had lost to Yoshida in Istanbul and finished with a silver medal.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) vs. Rinka OGAWA (JPN)

SF 1: Audrey JIMENEZ (USA) df. Diana RYSOVA (UKR), 14-3
SF 2: Rinka OGAWA (JPN) df. SHRUTI (IND), 10-0

53kg
GOLD: Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) vs. Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR)

SF 1: Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR) df. SAARIKA (IND), 10-0
SF 2: Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) df. Abigale COOPER (USA), via fall

72kg
GOLD: Yuqi LIU (CHN) vs. KAJAL (IND)

SF 1: Yuqi LIU (CHN) df. Haticenur SARI (TUR), 13-2
SF 2: KAJAL (IND) df. Jasmine ROBINSON (USA), 13-6

Greco-Roman

60kg
GOLD: Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE) vs. Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM)

SF 1: Aykhan JAVADOV (AZE) df. Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), via fall
SF 2: Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM) df. SURAJ (IND), 9-0

82kg
GOLD: Mikhail SHKARIN (UWW) vs. Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ)

SF 1: Dias SEITKALIYEV (KAZ) df. Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN), 9-0
SF 2: Mikhail SHKARIN (UWW) df. Martik PETROSYAN (ARM), 9-0