#WrestleZagreb

European Championships to witness Akgul vs Petraishvili again

By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (April 18) -- Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will have a go at each other once again after the two made it to the final for the second year in a row. Last year, Akgul defeated Petriashvili to win the gold and the latter will have a chance to avenge that loss.

After easy pickings in the quarterfinals, both wrestlers had comfortable wins in the semifinals as well. Akgul defeated Abraham CONYEDO (ITA) 4-0 while Petriashvili picked up a 7-4 win over Daniel LIGETI (HUN). Petriashvili gave up a huge four-pointer in that semifinal.

Akgul leads Petriashvili 5-1 in their European head-to-head record and Wednesday will see if Petriashvili can pull one back.

Another rematch from 2022 will be at 74kg as Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) returned to the final in Zagreb. Salkazanov won the thriller in Budapest last year.

The defending champion once again used his defensive skills to outplay his opponents in the morning session. He defeated Rasul SHAPIEV (MKD) 5-0 and Hrayr ALIKHANYAN (ARM) 3-0 before facing Avantdil KENTCHADZE (GEO) in the semifinal. Salkazanov did not change his strategy and managed to see off the Georgian to win 5-1.

Chamizo had a much tougher road to the final as he faced Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE) in the opening bout. Gadzhiev had the lead but Chamizo's activity broke the U20 world champion and he lost 9-4. Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR) must have thought he is in a safe area leading 6-1 against Chamizo in the quarterfinal. But Chamizo worked his way to three takedowns and a stepout to win 8-6. In the semifinal, he defeated Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL) 9-0 before the Bulgarian was injured.

"Last year I was not myself," Chamizo said. "This year I am going to focus a little bit more and let's see what happens."

On his final against Salkazanov, Chamizo said he doesn't like the match-up against Salkazanov as he operates with a completely different style.

"He always beats me," he said. "I don't know why. I don't like wrestling him may be because he doesn't really wrestle. But I am ready. I am not worried about who loses or wins. I am a competitor."

At 61kg, world champion Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) reached his first European Championships final in a mixed performance. He began with an 11-0 win over Niklas STECHELE (GER) and denied Taras MARKOVYCH (UKR) 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

However, the semifinal proved to be a scare as Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO) got four points in the first period. Phartenadze shot for the ankle and got the takedown before adding a back exposure. But Abakarov pulled out a stunning single leg to score two points just before the break. Albania challenged the call and asked for four. On review, it was confirmed that Phartenadze fell on his back from standing and Albania won the challenge to lead 4-4 on criteria.

The second period saw him engage Phartenadze enough to not be called passive but there were no more points in those three points. He moved into the final, only the second Albanian wrestler ever.

He will now face defending champion Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) who easily moved into the final after beating Arman ELOYAN (FRA) 10-0 in the semifinal.

Another defending champion who moved into the final was Myles AMINE (SMR) at 86kg. He had to dig deep in the semifinal against Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL) as he was trailing 2-1. But an arm-drag with two seconds remaining gave him the takedown and a 3-2 win. 

He will now face Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE), who won the European Championships in 2017 for Russian Wrestling Federation. He defeated Boris MAKOEV (SVK) 5-0 in the semifinal to make his second Euro final.

After three finalists on day one, Azerbaijan added one more on Tuesday as Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) reached his first-ever final at the European Championships after two bronze medals. In the semifinal, he defeated Ermak KARDANOV (SVK) 6-0.

It could have been another world bronze medalist in the final but Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) beat Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) 11-1 in the other semifinal to deny that. He will be looking to defend his title which he won in Budapest.

RESULTS

Semifinals

61kg
GOLD: Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) vs. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB)

SF 1: Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) df. Arman ELOYAN (FRA), 10-0
SF 2: Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) df. Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO), 4-4

74kg
GOLD: Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) vs. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA)

SF 1: Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) df. Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), 5-1
SF 2: Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) df. Ali UMARPASHAEV (BUL), 9-0 via injury default

86kg
GOLD: Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) vs. Myles AMINE (SMR) 

SF 1: Myles AMINE (SMR) df. Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL), 3-2
SF 2: Dauren KURUGLIEV (GRE) df. Boris MAKOEV (SVK), 5-0

92kg
GOLD: Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) vs. Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)

SF 1: Feyzullah AKTURK (TUR) df. Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO), 11-1
SF 2: Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE) df. Ermak KARDANOV (SVK), 6-0

125kg
GOLD: Taha AKGUL (TUR) vs. Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)

SF 1: Taha AKGUL (TUR) df. Abraham CONYEDO (ITA), 4-0
SF 2: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) df. Daniel LIGETI (HUN), 7-4

#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Greco-Roman Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 19) -- The World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will see 309 Greco-Roman wrestlers compete for the world titles.

The Greco-Roman competition will be towards in the end of the World Championships. For full schedule, click here.

Note: The entry are subject to change. Please refer to uww.org for latest updates

Zagreb

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Anil MOR (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Taiga ONISHI (JPN)
Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Junsik YU (KOR)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Jayden RANEY (USA)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
SURAJ (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Dahyun KIM (KOR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Alexis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Yuhe HUANG (CHN)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Andres MONTANO (ECU)
Moamen MOHAMED (EGY)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
Manato NAKAMURA (JPN)
Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Hector SANCHEZ ZAPATA (MEX)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Chan KIM (PRK)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ellis COLEMAN (USA)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Julian HORTA (COL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
ANIL (IND)
Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)
Neiser MARIMON HIDALGO (VEN)

72kg
Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG)
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Petar GORNYASHKI (BUL)
Lei LI (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Dalgat MAGOMEDOV (CZE)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Luis BARRIOS (HON)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Irving SALAZAR (MEX)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Mustafa SAHIN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Danil GRIGOREV (UWW)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Calebe CORREA (BRA)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Likui SHI (CHN)
Harryson NSIAMAZA (COD)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Noil UMAROV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hyeonjin KANG (KOR)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Saad AL SULAITI (QAT)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Lai Hsing YAO (TPE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Maksim SHEDZ (UWW)
Sergei KUTUZOV (UWW)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Zhihuan WANG (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
RAHUL (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Wonjong SUN (KOR)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Gabriel DINETTE (PHI)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)
Ilya BITSEYEU (UWW)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Erion RAMLJAK (AUS)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Jianwen LUO (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Loic Dimitri SAMEN (FRA)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Karan KAMBOJ (IND)
Alireza MOHMADI (IRI)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Baurzhan MUSSIN (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Jose VARGAS (MEX)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Hamza SERTCANLI (SWE)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (UWW)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)
Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Youfang ZHANG (CHN)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Rakhat BERZHANOV (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Michial FOY (USA)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)

130kg
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
SONU (IND)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Akarys BERDASHOV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Hekim GURBANMYRADOV (TKM)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)
Moises PEREZ (VEN)