#WrestleBratislava

On 14th Attempt, Prevolaraki Wins Historic European Gold for Greece

By Vinay Siwach

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 11) -- Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) made her first trip to the European Championships in 2011 when she was 19 years old. She competed in 14 European Championships and returned home with eight medals -- four silvers and four bronzes -- over the last 13 years.

Now 33 and competing at her 14th European Championships, Prevolaraki won her first gold medal with a thrilling win over Andreea ANA (ROU), ending a 24-year wait for Greece to have a champion in Women's Wrestling at the continental event. Former world champion Sofia POUMPOURIDOU (GRE) was the last and only other European champion for Greece in Women's Wrestling.

"I am very happy that I managed to earn the gold medal," Prevolaraki said. "I was waiting so many years to be the European champion and I am 33 years old but I managed to do it."

Over the years, Prevolaraki has lost four finals, all to different opponents. But Friday, she managed to keep her composure in a close bout for the win.

"This time I am more experienced and I did not feel any pressure," she said.  I played freely and good things happen when you have no pressure."

Wrestling in Bratislava in the 53kg weight class, Prevolaraki was hit with passivity first and put on the 30-second clock which expired without Prevolaraki scoring to give Ana 1-0 lead.

Ana extended her lead to 3-0 when Prevolaraki tried to hit a cut-back but was unsuccessful in the move. With more than two minutes remaining, Ana tried defending her 3-0 lead but was put on the activity clock when 1:10 were left.

During the 30-second period, Prevolaraki went for the leg-attack but Ana moved and tried getting behind Prevolaraki which she almost did and tried throwing the Greek with a cradle. But Prevolaraki was alerted and did not land in danger and scored a takedown. The activity clock against Ana expired which added another point for Prevolaraki, making the score 3-3 with the Greece wrestler leading on criteria of last point scored.

Romania decided to challenge, a strategic one. Even a lost challenge would need Ana to score a point to win from 4-3 with Prevolaraki lead and 3-3 with criteria to Prevolaraki.

On review, Romania lost the challenge and Prevolaraki led 4-3. Ana hit a sweep single and tried forcing Prevolaraki out of bounds but the Greece wrestler turned it around to get Ana's head out first and get another point to lead 5-3 which she defended and won the gold medal.

Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE)Maria PREVOLARAKI (GRE) at the medal ceremony of the European Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

"I think I have had a good career," she said. "I am sad that I don't have an Olympic medal but I have many European medals and world Championships medals."

Prevolaraki, a four-time Olympian, a rare feat in wrestling, paid tribute to three-time Olympic champion Buvaisar SAITIEV, by wearing a shirt with his photo and message. Saitiev had passed away in March at the age of 49 years.

"The legend [Saitiev] is for all wrestler all over the world and his legend has no bounds. I wanted to pay a tribute to this legend," she said.

#wrestlebishkek

Asian Championships 2026 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (March 20) -- The Asian Championships will return to Bishkek, a city that hosted the competition in 2018 and 2024. Close to 350 wrestlers are competing for the 30 gold medals on offer.

The event, which will follow a two-day format for the first time, will begin April 6 with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle.

Click here for the Asian Championships 2026 Wrestling Schedule

Note: The entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draws of the respective styles. For latest entries, refer to Asian Championships 2026.

Freestyle

57kg
Liguo CAO (CHN)
ANKUSH (IND)
Milad VALIZADEH (IRI)
Husein ALBEHADILALBORS (IRQ)
Fuga SASAKI (JPN)
Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Sunggwon KIM (KOR)
Munkh Erdene BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Gayan MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Aiaal BELOLYUBSKII (TJK)
Nodirbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)
Wessem ALYAMANI (YEM)

61kg
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
AMAN (IND)
Ahmad JAVAN (IRI)
Toshihiro HASEGAWA (JPN)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Bekzat ALMAZ UULU (KGZ)
Changsu KIM (KOR)
Batnasan GANKHULEG (MGL)
Kwang Myong KIM (PRK)
Azatberdi ASHYRGULYYEV (TKM)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)

65kg
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Xuexian OU (CHN)
SUJEET (IND)
Peyman NEMATI (IRI)
Takara SUDA (JPN)
Adi SERIKULY (KAZ)
Rustamzhan KAKHAROV (KGZ)
Junsik YUN (KOR)
Zeneemeder BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Divoshan FERNANDO (SRI)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Shuang CHEN (CHN)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Sanzhar DOSZHANOV (KAZ)
Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ)
Seonho YOO (KOR)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Viktor RASSADIN (TJK)
Shakhzodbek YARASHEV (UZB)

74kg
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
BATUQINGGELE (CHN)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Yernur NURGAZY (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Daegil HAN (KOR)
Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL)
Suresh CHUNARA (NEP)
Anil PELI GEDARAA (SRI)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Vatan ANNAORAZOV (TKM)
Begijon KULDASHEV (UZB)
Abdulkareem AL RABEDHI (YEM)

79kg
Feng LU (CHN)
Sandeep Singh MANN (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
Erzo ISAKOV (JOR)
Keyvan GHAREHDAGHI (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Adilet MARATBAEV (KGZ)
Sungho LEE (KOR)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Somonjon IKROMOV (TJK)
Soltan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Razambek JAMALOV (UZB)

86kg
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Suhe GANG (CHN)
Mukul DAHIYA (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Yudai TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ)
Malik SHAVAEV (KGZ)
Gyeongyeon LEE (KOR)
Byambadorj BAT ERDENE (MGL)
Song Gang JI (PRK)
Weng CHOW (SGP)
Madushanka MUDIYANSELAGE (SRI)
Bakhodur KODIROV (TJK)
Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM)
Bobur ISLOMOV (UZB)

92kg
Magomed SHARIPOV (BRN)
Hade AYIDUSI (CHN)
Punit KUMAR (IND)
Mobin AZIMI (IRI)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Azamat DAULETBEKOV (KAZ)
Iakov CHAPLIN (KGZ)
Seohyun CHA (KOR)
Bat Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Ismail KARTOEV (TJK)
Dovletgeldi MYRADOV (TKM)
Sadirdin DAMINJONOV (UZB)

97kg
Akhmed TAZHUDINOV (BRN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
VICKY (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Arash YOSHIDA (JPN)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Kanybek ABDULKHAIROV (KGZ)
Juhwan SEO (KOR)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Triloki YADAV (NEP)
Rahmonjon MAHMADBEKOV (TJK)
Shatlyk HEMELYAYEV (TKM)
Sherzod POYONOV (UZB)

125kg
Shamil SHARIPOV (BRN)
BUHEEERDUN (CHN)
DINESH (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Yedige KASSIMBEK (KAZ)
Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ)
Gwanuk KIM (KOR)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Zyyamuhammet SAPAROV (TKM)
Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB)

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) will be wrestling at 50kg for the Asian Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

50kg
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
NEELAM (IND)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Maral TANGIRBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Miran CHEON (KOR)
Munkhnar BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Aliah Rose GAVALEZ (PHI)
Son Hyang KIM (PRK)
Nipuni HEWA PEDIGE (SRI)
Yi Hui LIN (TPE)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)
Ngoc Linh DO (VIE)

53kg
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
MEENAKSHI (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Aziza KELDIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Seoyoung PARK (KOR)
Tsovoo GANKHUYAG (MGL)
Pabasara GAMAGE (SRI)
Vatansulton SHAKARSHOEVA (TJK)
Ya Hsin CHEN (TPE)
Sakibjamal ESBOSYNOVA (UZB)
Thi My Linh NGUYEN (VIE)

55kg
Yuxuan LI (CHN)
Hansika LAMBA (IND)
Sowaka UCHIDA (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Jeongbin OH (KOR)
Ariunzaya ODONCHIMEG (MGL)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

57kg
Kexin HONG (CHN)
MANISHA (IND)
Sara NATAMI (JPN)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Tancholpon KYBALBEKOVA (KGZ)
Youngjin KWON (KOR)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Danielle LIM (SGP)
Nethmi PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Pei Ying LIAO (TPE)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)
Thi My Trang NGUYEN (VIE)

59kg
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
NEHA (IND)
Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN)
Viktoriia KHUSAINOVA (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyebin AHN (KOR)
Bolortuya KHURELKHUU (MGL)
Ulmeken ESENBAEVA (UZB)

62kg
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
MANSI (IND)
Balqis TAAIBIN (JOR)
Nonoka OZAKI (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Subeen JO (KOR)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Hyon Gyong MUN (PRK)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Nigina SABIROVA (UZB)

65kg
LILI (CHN)
MONIKA (IND)
Tala ABUKHEIT (JOR)
Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
Aizhan SUIDUOVA (KAZ)
Gulnura TASHTANBEKOVA (KGZ)
Hanbit LEE (KOR)
Narkhajid NYAMSUREN (MGL)
Firuza ESENBAEVA (UZB)

68kg
Zelu LI (CHN)
Mansi LATHER (IND)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Yelena SHALYGINA (KAZ)
Meerim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Hyeonyeong PARK (KOR)
Delgermaa ENKHSAIKHAN (MGL)
Sheng Fang CAI (TPE)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)
Thi Linh DANG (VIE)

72kg
Jia LONG (CHN)
HARSHITA (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Soobin KIM (KOR)
Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
Sevinchoy POLVONOVA (UZB)

76kg
Wenji LI (CHN)
KAJAL (IND)
Yasuha MATSUYUKI (JPN)
Gulmaral YERKEBAYEVA (KAZ)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Eunju HWANG (KOR)
Davaanasan ENKH AMAR (MGL)
Hui Tsz CHANG (TPE)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

Hadi SARAVI (IRI)World and Olympic champion Hadi SARAVI (IRI). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Huoying SHI (CHN)
LALIT (IND)
Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Ahmad AHMAD (JOR)
Mizuki ARAKI (JPN)
Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Jonghyeon KIM (KOR)
Davaabandi MUNKH ERDENE (MGL)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Rasul JORAYEV (TKM)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Haodong TAN (CHN)
SAHIL (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Yu SHIOTANI (JPN)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Kurmanbek ZHAPAROV (KGZ)
Minwoo KIM (KOR)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Yong Xiang SU (TPE)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Huangsheng WU (CHN)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Kaisei TANABE (JPN)
Saifulla KURMAN (KAZ)
Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hyunwoong CHOI (KOR)
Rayan HAWSAWI (KSA)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

67kg
Ji LENG (CHN)
sachin SAHRAWAT (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Kensuke SHIMIZU (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sunat ABDULLOEV (TJK)
Abdumalik AMINOV (UZB)

72kg
Dongyu LI (CHN)
ANIL (IND)
Javad REZAEI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Dohun LIM (KOR)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Loiqi AMIRKHONZODA (TJK)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Shakhzod KUCHKOROV (UZB)

77kg
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
AMAN (IND)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Amro SADEH (JOR)
Isami HORIKITA (JPN)
Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ)
Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Saoud ALMEFQAEY (QAT)
Alisher RUZIMADOV (TJK)
Lai YAO (TPE)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Rui LIU (CHN)
PRINCE (IND)
Amin HOSSEINI (IRI)
Tatsuya FUJII (JPN)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Bada LEE (KOR)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Kakabay KAKABAYEV (TKM)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

87kg
Shichang ZHENG (CHN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Yahiro MOTOHASHI (JPN)
Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Seunghwan LEE (KOR)
Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK)
Dovletmyrat BAYRAMOV (TKM)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

97kg
Zegang WANG (CHN)
NITESH (IND)
Hadi SARAVI (IRI)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Islam YEVLOYEV (KAZ)
Melis AITBEKOV (KGZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Ibrahim FALLATAH (KSA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Abdikodir JALILOV (UZB)

130kg
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Joginder RATHEE (IND)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ)
Roman KIM (KGZ)
Minseok KIM (KOR)
Omer AMIROGLU (KSA)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Rafael TSITSUASHVILI (UZB)