UWW Academy

UWW Academy Launches Three New Programmes

Sunday, September 26, 2021 - 03:39 By Eric Olanowski

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 22) – United World Wrestling’s IT and Development Departments launched three new programmes on UWW Academy, the official educational learning platform for coaches, referees and athletes. 

The United World Wrestling Academy is an integrated online learning portal designed to provide information, tools and resources in order to support and enhance the knowledge and value of the discipline of wrestling. 

Periodization in Planning, Coaching Philosophy and Programme Development are the three programmes that launched in English on Wednesday morning.

“The IT and Development Departments of UWW are very excited to launch these additional programmes on the UWW Academy” said UWW’s Development Director, Deqa Niamkey. “The wrestling community worldwide has shown great interest for the platform, and therefore, we must continue to pursue these developments to further expand wrestling knowledge worldwide.”

‘Periodization in Planning’ looks at the basics of implementing periodization into training. It covers the benefits of periodization, different methods for periodization, and covers key points and questions regarding the implementation of this planning. 

‘Coaching Philosophy’ will help coaches develop their coaching philosophy.  It is an interactive course where coaches will learn and answer questions regarding their philosophy.  The coaches will learn about three areas: self-awareness, their purpose, and the different types of leaders.  Then, they will use their answers to draft their coaching philosophy statement. 

‘The Programme Development' course focuses on the key concepts on how a coach would develop their program or team. The course begins by helping them develop a plan and set goals.  It then extensively covers how to develop and implement a training plan.  The course also helps coaches develop a vision statement, budget and financial strategies, use social media for promotion, and create a risk management plan. 

Outside of the newly-released Periodization in Planning, Coaching Philosophy and Programme Development programmes, other helpful UWW Academy resources and courses included: 

 Courses:
- Ready to Wrestle
- UWW Online Rules Test 
- Introduction to Coaching and Safety   
- Introduction to Practice Planning  
- Introduction to Refereeing 

Resources: 
- Wrestle4Fun
- United World Wrestling Coaching Pathway
- United World Wrestling Referee Pathway 
- Anti-doping and WADA Programs 
- IOC Programs 
- E-Journals and Performance Analysis for UWW Competitions 

For more details on the educational courses and resources that the UWW Academy has to offer, please visit www.uwwacademy.org.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open 2026 Day 2 Highlights: Yazdani in 97kg final

Thursday, February 5, 2026 - 09:21 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 5) -- The Ranking Series event, Zagreb Open, enters day two and it will be Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) making his 97kg debut for Iran. The Olympic champion at 74kg in 2016, and two-time Olympic silver medalist at 86kg, is chasing that second gold, this time at 97kg.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | DAY 1 RESULTS

13:45: 55kg WW semifinals - World silver medalist Verbina EKATERINA (UWW) with a 1-1 victory over Nagisa HARADA (JPN) in the semifinals. She got an activity point in the second period to keep the criteria lead. Ekaterina will face Karla GODINEZ (CAN) in the final after the Canadian defeated Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA), 2-1, in another low scoring semifinal.

13:30: 50kg WW semifinals - Haruna MORIKAWA (JPN) with a controlled 8-2 win over Elizaveta SMIRNOVA (UWW) at 50kg. She will wrestle NEELAM (IND) for the gold medal. Neelam defeated MUSKAN (IND), 7-4, in an all-Indian semifinal

13:20: 125kg semifinals - A fall for Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN) over Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL) in just over two minutes as he reaches the final at 125kg. He will face Wyatt HENDRICKSON (USA) in the final after the U.S. wrestler scored an 11-1 win over Robert BARAN (POL).

13:10: 97kg semifinals - Stephen BUCHANAN (USA) with a quick fall over Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA) in the first semifinal. Now he earns himself a chance to wrestle against Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) after Iranian managed another technical superiority win. While it's rare on Yazdani, Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO) scored two takedowns on Yazdani but failed to keep the pressure before losing 14-4

12:55: 92kg semifinals - Mobin AZIMI (IRI) gets a dominant 11-0 win over Dustin PLOTT (USA) as he used a double-leg for four to finish. He earns a chance to avenge his 5-5 loss to Trent HIDLAY (USA) in the final after the American scored another come-from-behind victory. He defeated Michael MACCHIAVELLO (USA), 3-3, to setup the gold medal bout against Azimi

12:40: 79kg semifinals - Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) is back in the Ranking Series final with a 10-1 victory over Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO). He looked in complete control of the bout. Khadjiev will face Dean HAMITI (USA) for the gold medal after he defeated Evan WICK (USA), 6-5, in a thrilling semifinal

12:15: Trent HIDLAY (USA) once again shows how to come back and win a bout. Down 6-0 against Abofazl RAHMANI (IRI), he scores a four-pointer and keeps the pressure on the Iranian to win 11-9 and make his spot in the semifinal at 92kg.

11:45: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) gives up a takedown against Richard VEGH (HUN) but that is the only slip in an otherwise dominant bout at 97kg. Two four point throws for Yazdani as he advances to the semifinals.

11:35: Ekaterina VERBINA (UWW) with a big four-pointer in her 5-0 win against Beatrice FERENT (ROU) at 55kg. The world silver medalist is the favorite to win gold here.

11:25: Mobin AZIMI (IRI) bounces back from his loss to Trent HIDLAY (USA) and beats Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI) in his second bout at 92kg round robin. Azimi managed to score a takedown with less than 30 second left to beat Rahmani 4-3.

11:10: Two quick results at women's 50kg. Haruna MORIKAWA (JPN) beats Kendra RYAN (USA) 12-1 at 50kg before NEELAM (IND) also wins via technical superiority, 10-0, against Agata GOLUCHOWSKA (POL). 

11:00: 92kg world champion Trent HIDLAY (USA) makes a comeback from 5-0 down to beat Mobin AZIMI (IRI) 5-5 in the group stage bout. Hidlay scored a takedown in the second period before adding two stepouts. Iran challenged the second one but lost which gave the criteria lead to Hidlay

10:50: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) doesn't the trademark jump before entering the mat but his bout against Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO) is a typical Yazdani bout. He uses the underhook to start scoring and then rallies to score takedowns at will before turning Suleimanishvili and winning his bout 11-0

10:45: Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN) wrestled well but it is Yaraslau SLAVIKOUSKI (UWW) who manages to win 6-4 at 97kg and win the opening bout.

10:30: Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) will be on Mat B but before that, a few big results in Zagreb. Richard VEGH (HUN) manages to hang on for a 3-0 victory over Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ) at 97kg.