#WrestleAthens

U17 World Championships 2025 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ATHENS, Greece (July 18) -- Eight years after it last hosted a World U17 Championships, Athens is gearing up for the next.

From July 28 to August 2, the Greek capital will be home to almost 700 wrestlers who try to win world title at the U17 weight class.

Greco-Roman will kick-off proceedings of the tournament which will be held in two-day format. Women's Wrestling will be next before Freestyle closes the competition.

For the detailed schedule, refer to U17 World Championships 2025, Athens Schedule.

Note: The entries are subject to change 72 hours before the draw of respective weight classes. For latest entries and brackets, refer to UWW Arena

Freestyle

45kg
Youcef BOUKHALFA (ALG)
Levik AVETISYAN (ARM)
Sadig ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Stanimir SLAVOV (BUL)
Yongqiang HUANG (CHN)
Saba MINDIASHVILI (GEO)
Alexandros SERETIDIS (GRE)
SHIVAM (IND)
Parsa TAHMASBI (IRI)
Tamir SHIRMAMEDOV (ISR)
Riku FURUSAWA (JPN)
Bakdaulet AGABEK (KAZ)
Arnur NURSAIDOV (KGZ)
Eyup CEYLAN (TUR)
Volodymyr YATEL (UKR)
Keegan BASSETT (USA)
Ibragim VELIULLOV (UWW)
Mirjalol MUKAMMILOV (UZB)

48kg
Anis BOUGUERRA (ALG)
Davit BALEYAN (ARM)
Ravan HASANZADE (AZE)
Grozdan PETKOV (BUL)
Yuzheng HE (CHN)
Giorgi NARIMANIDZE (GEO)
Angelos KAMAGIANNIS (GRE)
SHIVAM (IND)
Sina BOUSTANI (IRI)
Masamune USHIMADO (JPN)
Sabyrzhan RAKHATOV (KAZ)
Dovudbek BAKHADIROV (KGZ)
Daniel NEGRU (MDA)
Attila HEGEDUS (SVK)
Sadik ATESOGULLARI (TUR)
Nazar KAPLUN (UKR)
Ariah MILLS (USA)
Islam RABADANOV (UWW)
Makar MARKOVICH (UWW)
Jakhongir TULKUNOV (UZB)

51kg
Makaya KATENDI (ANG)
Mher HAKOBYAN (ARM)
Ramal MIRHUSEYNOV (AZE)
Georgi SPASOV (BUL)
Jonrex CASA (CAN)
Xiyi LIANG (CHN)
Samvel ABRAHAMYAN (ESP)
Temuri TUTARASHVILI (GEO)
Michail KOKOLOGIANNIS (GRE)
Dhanraj JAMNIK (IND)
Sina ORDOU (IRI)
Haruku SHIINA (JPN)
Danael ABDYKASSYM (KAZ)
Sadyr KAIYPBEKOV (KGZ)
Serghei CAMBUR (MDA)
Cruz LITTLE (PUR)
Laurentiu FLOREA (ROU)
Bugra KAVAK (TUR)
Robert ALOIEV (UKR)
Samuel SANCHEZ (USA)
Dzhamal BAKAEV (UWW)
Dzianis SHPARTAU (UWW)
Ulugbek RASHIDOV (UZB)

55kg
Abderrezak CHENINI (ALG)
Armen PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Ruslan ALIZADA (AZE)
Aleksandar DELCHEV (BUL)
Aaharen PIRANAVAN (CAN)
Chengzhuang MA (CHN)
Jovanni TOVAR (COL)
Gabriel GAMARNIK (GEO)
Ioannis KESIDIS (GRE)
Jaiveer SINGH (IND)
Reza BARARI (IRI)
Jinnosuke OKONOGI (JPN)
Ibrahim YSKAKBEK (KAZ)
Zhakshylyk BOROBAEV (KGZ)
Dan BULGARU (MDA)
Pavlo ILNYTSKYI (POL)
Nathaniel LYTTLE (PUR)
David MILITARU (ROU)
Jyun JHONG (TPE)
Kamil GOKCE (TUR)
Ivan BEZUHLYI (UKR)
Greyton BURNETT (USA)
Chingis SARYGLAR (UWW)
Hleb PIATROU (UWW)
Abdumalik JALOLDINOV (UZB)

60kg
Hamlet ANTONYAN (ARM)
Hasan HASANOV (AZE)
Kaloyan STAEV (BUL)
Nathan NASH (CAN)
Ao LI (CHN)
Iakovos SOURAILOV (CYP)
Mate TSINADZE (GEO)
Pavlos NTIANTIADIS (GRE)
SITENDER (IND)
Arian MEHRALIZADEH (IRI)
Denis KODZHAK (ISR)
Rihito HIURA (JPN)
Bekassyl ASSAMBEK (KAZ)
Ulukman ZHEKSHENKULOV (KGZ)
Leonid STARSELSCHI (MDA)
Sufjan SINANI (MKD)
Witold PAWLIK (POL)
Frederick BACHMANN (PUR)
Stefan PUSCAS (ROU)
Juan GROENEWALD (RSA)
Emre BARAN (TUR)
Zorab ALOIEV (UKR)
Ashton BESMER (USA)
Yahor DAROSHKA (UWW)
Tundzhai VERDIEV (UWW)
Fakhriddin NASRIDDINOV (UZB)

65kg
Avet BOYMUSHAKYAN (ARM)
Huseyn ISMAYILOV (AZE)
Seyko KALINOV (BUL)
Liam GORTON (CAN)
Changxin WU (CHN)
Nikos SOURAILOV (CYP)
Arshavir DARAKHSHANI (FIN)
Rati REVAZASHVILI (GEO)
Dario FISCHIETTI (GER)
Konstantinos MICHAILIDIS (GRE)
Gourav PUNIA (IND)
Morteza HAJ (IRI)
Nikita KOZICH (ISR)
Kodai IWASAKI (JPN)
Yeraly ASKERBEK (KAZ)
Adisbek ALTYNBEKOV (KGZ)
Maxim DIMOV (MDA)
Erdenedalai LKHAGVA OCHIR (MGL)
Michal Antoni MICHNIEWICZ (POL)
Yandro SOTO (PUR)
Istvan NAGY (ROU)
Ismail MERTKOLLU (TUR)
Ivan ZALISKO (UKR)
Arseni KIKINIOU (USA)
Kiryl PAULIUCHENKA (UWW)
Magomed IBRAGIMOV (UWW)
Shokhiddin ALIEV (UZB)

71kg
Yeghishe MOSESYAN (ARM)
Rashad VEYSALOV (AZE)
Aleks GROZDANOV (BUL)
Junfeng QU (CHN)
Kayden HANLON (GBR)
Koba GOGUADZE (GEO)
Jason KEIL (GER)
Ektoras SIZO (GRE)
Zeteny TUGYI (HUN)
Kapil DAHIYA (IND)
Arsham VAHABIAN (IRI)
Satoya KOBAYASHI (JPN)
Nurtay NAROV (KAZ)
Aibek ERALIEV (KGZ)
Chirill PODSEVALNICOV (MDA)
Ismail ERZANUKAEV (POL)
Catalin MINEA (ROU)
Ayubjon BOZORZODA (TJK)
Ali ESENOV (TKM)
Omer GUL (TUR)
Ihor OLIINYK (UKR)
Jayden JAMES (USA)
Artsiom BOLSUN (UWW)
Zubair BAGILOV (UWW)
Farrukhbek JUMANAZAROV (UZB)

80kg
Vache ASLANYAN (ARM)
Nihad SULEYMANLI (AZE)
Valentin ILIEV (BUL)
Beau CHARTRAND (CAN)
Enqin ZENG (CHN)
Levan CHERTKOEV (FRA)
Marshall EVERETT (GBR)
Nuradin MUSTAFAEV (GEO)
Abdurrahim SEKMEN (GER)
Konstantinos MOURTZILAKIS (GRE)
Noel SZECSENYI (HUN)
Saurabh YADAV (IND)
Parsa KARAMI (IRI)
Haruta SHIOTSUKA (JPN)
Dinmukhammed KASSYMBEK (KAZ)
Ruslan ASANOV (KGZ)
Ivan PASLARI (MDA)
Buyantogtokh BYAMBADORJ (MGL)
Mateusz ZAWADZKI (POL)
Arslan AZYMBERDIYEV (TKM)
Berat ERTURK (TUR)
Artur KOSTIUK (UKR)
Aaron STEWART (USA)
Issa ZANGIEV (UWW)
Yahor DASHKEVICH (UWW)
Bunyod RUFATOV (UZB)

92kg
Abderrahmane MEZITI (ALG)
Avet ENGOIAN (ARM)
Said PASHAYEV (AZE)
Georgi GEORGIEV (BUL)
Harjot SHERGILL (CAN)
Jiyu WANG (CHN)
Jose PEREZ (COL)
Elguja LOMIDZE (GEO)
Charilaos CHAITIDIS (GRE)
Levente SZIKSZAI (HUN)
Arjun RUHIL (IND)
Amirali ALIZADEH (IRI)
Sota YAMANAKA (JPN)
Beibarys YERGALI (KAZ)
Arnas JOKIMCIUS (LTU)
Eugen DOHOTER (MDA)
Saruul Erdene ERDENETSOGT (MGL)
Franco LATORRE (PUR)
Magor LORINCZ (ROU)
Said RIZA (TUR)
Samir IBISHOV (UKR)
Tanner HODGINS (USA)
David DZEBISOV (UWW)

110kg
Laert MOVSESYAN (ARM)
Hakim TAGHIYEV (AZE)
Stefan STEFANOV (BUL)
Udaypartap BILLEN (CAN)
Ruijie LI (CHN)
Murtaz BAGDAVADZE (GEO)
Georgios MANAGKANTZE (GRE)
Gyoergy JUHASZ (HUN)
LACKY (IND)
Amirhossein NAGHDALIPOUR (IRI)
Hanto HAYASHI (JPN)
Riza IZAKHAR (KAZ)
Akzhol BARPYBEKOV (KGZ)
Carlos CABRALES (MEX)
Piotr GRELA (POL)
Yu CHUANG (TPE)
Zekeriya DOGAN (TUR)
Mykyta KRASNOKUTSKYI (UKR)
Alexander TAYLOR (USA)
Magomedrasul OMAROV (UWW)
Mikita TKACHYK (UWW)
Bakhrombek RASHIDOV (UZB)

KAJAL (IND)KAJAL (IND), a world champ at 69kg, will be at 73kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

40kg
Polina TIMSINA (EST)
Finja STRAUCH (GER)
Preeti YADAV (IND)
An NAKANISHI (JPN)
Asema ASANGARYEVA (KGZ)
Valia HARSAN (ROU)
Zehra OZDEMIR (TUR)
Emma TALPA (UKR)
Maisie ELLIOTT (USA)
Daria MASLENNIKOVA (UWW)
Shokhista SHONAZAROVA (UZB)

43kg
Mariza NASU (CAN)
Xin HUANG (CHN)
Isabela GARNICA (COL)
Mareim ABDELAAL (EGY)
Aikaterini KATIFORI (GRE)
Reka TELEKI (HUN)
RACHANA (IND)
Sayuki HIBARINO (JPN)
Inzhu BAKKOZHA (KAZ)
Aiza TAALAIBEKOVA (KGZ)
Natalia TERZI (MDA)
Liva CELIK (TUR)
Martina MODNA (UKR)
Madison HEALEY (USA)
Nurana ASADLI (UWW)
Raniia RAKHMANOVA (UWW)
Mukhlisa MASHARIPOVA (UZB)

46kg
Nazrin AHMADLI (AZE)
Dayana STOYCHEVA (BUL)
Yuting YUAN (CHN)
Lara BLAZEKOVIC (CRO)
Maria GKIKA (GRE)
Janka SILLEI (HUN)
Kasish GURJAR (IND)
Hanano OYA (JPN)
Shynaiy MAKEN (KAZ)
Aiana NIIAZBEKOVA (KGZ)
Emilia STRACHOTA (POL)
Elanur BERBER (TUR)
Kamila KUCHMA (UKR)
Jaclyn BOUZAKIS (USA)
Anastasiya BIALUHA (UWW)
Irina TSYDEEVA (UWW)

49kg
Kamryn MASON (CAN)
Xiaoqing MO (CHN)
Sheila MONDRAGO (ESP)
Dimitra SKOUVAKI (GRE)
Komal VERMA (IND)
Yu KATAOKA (JPN)
Saniya SOLTANGALI (KAZ)
Azema KALIDINOVA (KGZ)
Elsa NIKOCI (KOS)
Ruslana CARAPETIANT (MDA)
Kinga JANUSZEK (POL)
Electra GARAIACU (ROU)
Yu Hsi CHENG (TPE)
Melike KOPARAN (TUR)
Olena KOLUBAI (UKR)
Morgan TURNER (USA)
Anhelina BURKINA (UWW)
Polina BOCHKAREVA (UWW)
Mashkhura ABDUMUSAEVA (UZB)

53kg
Dounia ZITOUNI (ALG)
Fatima BAYRAMOVA (AZE)
Vasilena ILIEVA (BUL)
Jiaqing JIANG (CHN)
Mia KOVAC (CRO)
Nadiia ZHOLTIKOVA (ESP)
Josefine WIDMANN (GER)
Maria VANDOULAKI VANDOULA (GRE)
Mariia ZHYTOVOZ (HUN)
SAARIKA (IND)
Naomi LIUZZI (ITA)
Rion OGAWA (JPN)
Farida ABDRAKHMANOVA (KAZ)
Baktygul ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Kanita SPAHIJA (KOS)
Julia GIBALSKA (POL)
Emma A PEAKE (PUR)
Miriam MISAKOVA (SVK)
Fatma YILMAZ (TUR)
Yuliia HOLHOVSKA (UKR)
Epenesa ELISON (USA)
Margarita IARYGINA (UWW)
Kseniya KRYSHTOFIK (UWW)

57kg
Esra MAMMADLI (AZE)
Yasmim NEPER OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Stefani LAZAROVA (BUL)
Xiaohan XU (CHN)
Oona PEKKARINEN (FIN)
Nini TSITSVIDZE (GEO)
Zoi KAIDOPOULOU (GRE)
MONI (IND)
Sophie RITTER (ITA)
Sayuki TANADA (JPN)
Madkhiya USMANOVA (KAZ)
Albina SALYMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Marta MANKOWSKA (POL)
Aneishka SANTOS (PUR)
Oana DUMITRU (ROU)
Ivana GAJIC (SRB)
Ling En LI (TPE)
Delal KADIR (TUR)
Ivanna LUKIANENKO (UKR)
Emma BACON (USA)
Alina BAROEVA (UWW)
Sofiya ZUYEVA (UWW)

61kg
Sophia MERANER (AUT)
Andrea NISEVA (BUL)
Natalie WOJCIECHOWSKI (CAN)
Zichen DONG (CHN)
Lana PEZIC (CRO)
Graciela ENINGO (ESP)
Miranda KAPANADZE (GEO)
Ioanna XENIDOU (GRE)
Barbara BAGER (HUN)
YASHITA (IND)
Waka AWANO (JPN)
Zhaidar MUKAT (KAZ)
Akylai CHYNYBAEVA (KGZ)
Sara ROBLES (MEX)
Nadia KOCIA (POL)
Paola RAMIREZ (PUR)
Sophia PAIUS (ROU)
Yu Ting LIU (TPE)
Ozdenur OZMEZ (TUR)
Oleksandra MALKOVA (UKR)
Taina FERNANDEZ (USA)
Varvara ALISEYENKA (UWW)
Zalina TOTROVA (UWW)

65kg
Selsabil ROUABAH (ALG)
Luoji WANG (CHN)
Feenja HERMANN (GER)
Vasiliki KARAVANOU (GRE)
Emese CZEGLEDI (HUN)
Ashvini VISHNOI (IND)
Mitsuki OKAWA (JPN)
Nuraiym SAIAKHMET (KAZ)
Manzura ZHUSUEVA (KGZ)
Alexandra MOISEI (MDA)
Anujin ERKHEMBAATAR (MGL)
Zuzanna HORBIK (POL)
Sophia ANASTASE (ROU)
Kiymet TEZCAN (TUR)
Sofiia ALFOROVA (UKR)
Violette LASURE (USA)
Anastasiya KOMANAVA (UWW)
Lilia ERMOKHINA (UWW)
Mukhayyo RAKHIMJONOVA (UZB)

69kg
Mayara NEPER OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Min ZHAO (CHN)
Ayla SAHIN (GER)
Elli SEITARIDOU (GRE)
Reka BERECZKI (HUN)
MANISHA (IND)
Mao TERAOKA (JPN)
Shakhizada DAULETZHAN (KAZ)
Aiana ASAMALIKOVA (KGZ)
Linda MARTINEZ (MEX)
Gereltuya AMARSAIKHAN (MGL)
Aurelia GODZINSKA (POL)
Zeynep SUCU (TUR)
Solomiia PETRIV (UKR)
Cassandra GONZALES (USA)
Ulyana LAPANIK (UWW)
Zukhra KAZULAEVA (UWW)
Dilrabo DULLIEVA (UZB)

73kg
Jolina HEALEY (CAN)
Wenjin QIU (CHN)
Anna GODELASHVILI (GEO)
Polyxeni CHRYSIKAKI (GRE)
Bianka BARANY (HUN)
KAJAL (IND)
Ichine TATESHITA (JPN)
Gulnur MAKSATKYZY (KAZ)
Meruert OKTIABREVA (KGZ)
Greta TVERSKYTE (LTU)
Malak SABRY (MAR)
Deborah GARCIA (MEX)
Uranzaya TSERENNYAM (MGL)
Claudia MANTOG (ROU)
Eylem ENGIN (TUR)
Khrystyna DEMCHUK (UKR)
Ella Jo POALILLO (USA)
Amina MUSAEVA (UWW)
Sofiya AUCHAROVA (UWW)

Aslanbek KOSTOEV (UWW)Aslanbek KOSTOEV (UWW), world champion at 45kg, will be at 51kg in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman

45kg
Ararat AVETISYAN (ARM)
Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE)
Danimir YORDANOV (BUL)
Juntao LUO (CHN)
Saba ABASHIDZE (GEO)
Stefanos MEMTSAS (GRE)
Yash KAMANNA (IND)
Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI)
Yuta MIYAGAWA (JPN)
Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ)
Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ)
Vadim TARELUNGA (MDA)
Mustafa GUVEN (TUR)
Tymur MAHARRAMOV (UKR)
Thales SILVA (USA)
Ismail BALBEK (UWW)
Javokhir SHARIFBOEV (UZB)

48kg
Martin MANJIKYAN (ARM)
Gurban MAJNUNOV (AZE)
Stanislav IVANOV (BUL)
Fuhua KANG (CHN)
Giorgi MUNTCHAVA (GEO)
Nikolaos ZINISA (GRE)
Aditya JADHAV (IND)
Amirmohammad HAJI (IRI)
Kaisei YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Nurdaulet KUMARULY (KAZ)
Zhanarbek SEIITOV (KGZ)
Baris SOYLU (TUR)
Artem KOLOS (UKR)
Michael RUNDELL (USA)
Tsimafei SEMIANENKA (UWW)
Turpal SAIDULAEV (UWW)
Bunyod HASANOV (UZB)

51kg
Marat ATSHEMYAN (ARM)
Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE)
Kaloyan BORISOV (BUL)
Zihao ZHANG (CHN)
Mohamed ELTAYEB (EGY)
Giorgi AZNAURISHVILI (GEO)
Pavlos TSENTIDIS (GRE)
Keve KOVACS (HUN)
Yuvraj KAMANNA (IND)
Amir HAJIVAND (IRI)
Nikko ADACHI (JPN)
Daniyar BAZARBEK (KAZ)
Islam KURBANOV (KGZ)
Abu SAGA (NOR)
Andrei PELEAN (ROU)
Polat KARADENIZ (TUR)
Herman BASARAB (UKR)
Carter SHIN (USA)
Aslanbek KOSTOEV (UWW)
Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB)

55kg
Kheireddine GHAOUAR (ALG)
Meruzhan MKHITARYAN (ARM)
Nihat BAHMANOV (AZE)
Lavozier WADIK (BRA)
Antoan TSVETANOV (BUL)
Zongyao WU (CHN)
Mohamed SHAABAN (EGY)
Magomed VARAEV (FRA)
Giorgi CHACHUA (GEO)
Ivan SEIBEL (GER)
Grigorios EFTHYMIADIS (GRE)
Balint KAZINCZY (HUN)
Aditya GUPTA (IND)
Amirreza TAHMASBPOUR (IRI)
Emanuel ISRAILOV (ISR)
Naru SEMBA (JPN)
Nurali ASKAR (KAZ)
Alkham ABDIRASULOV (KGZ)
Patrick MOCAN CROITORU (ROU)
Makhdi BAROTOV (TJK)
Osman OZDEMIR (TUR)
Rakhman GAMIDOV (UKR)
Alexander PIERCE (USA)
Danil LOZHKIN (UWW)
Ivan KALENKA (UWW)
Sadriddin TULKINBOEV (UZB)

60kg
Wail BEN AISSA (ALG)
Zaven MEZHLUMYAN (ARM)
Ali NAZAROV (AZE)
Zhivko HINKOV (BUL)
Aoyu HAO (CHN)
Roko CURIC (CRO)
Raimond PROUS (EST)
Lazare GOGOTISHVILI (GEO)
Mika LABES (GER)
Vasileios TSAROUCHAS (GRE)
Imre JUHASZ (HUN)
RITESH (IND)
Abolfazl ZARE (IRI)
Riccardo DELLE CAVE (ITA)
Kodai HIHARA (JPN)
Damir AKAN (KAZ)
Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ)
Emilis NEVERAUSKAS (LTU)
Vlad DUMINICA (MDA)
Zeus GONZALEZ (MEX)
Raffaele HIGHT (NED)
Przemyslaw ANDRYCHOWSKI (POL)
Alexandru LUNGU (ROU)
Joel GAECHTER (SUI)
Amirjon OBIDOV (TJK)
Abdul ARSLANTAS (TUR)
Denys SEREDIN (UKR)
William DETAR (USA)
Ivan KOZLOV (UWW)
Kiryl VASKO (UWW)
Humoyun ERKINOV (UZB)

65kg
Janes NAZARYAN (ARM)
Huseyn ISGANDAROV (AZE)
Kristiyan PETKOV (BUL)
GAMAWANGDUI (CHN)
Luka SEVEREC (CRO)
Kyliane EDDOUH (FRA)
Erekle TAVBERIDZE (GEO)
Iason MARGARITIDIS (GRE)
ANUJ (IND)
Abolfazl Ali SHIRI (IRI)
Yehonatan NEMSADZE (ISR)
Alessio ARANCIO (ITA)
Yutaro OMORI (JPN)
Dosbol SHAMIL (KAZ)
Adilet OMURBEKOV (KGZ)
Kernius KURMILEVICIUS (LTU)
Maxim DAMASCHIN (MDA)
Mate VAN OS (NED)
Andreas FJELDSTAD (NOR)
Julian IWASZKO (POL)
Luka ZELIC (SRB)
Tim SCHREIBER (SUI)
Shohijahon BOBOEV (TJK)
Mesut SOGUT (TUR)
Yehor TARASENKO (UKR)
Arseni KIKINIOU (USA)
Marat MARGIEV (UWW)
Xusan GIEZIDINOV (UZB)

71kg
Firas HAMATA (ALG)
Roman USOYAN (ARM)
David SCHOBER (AUT)
Yusif AHMADLI (AZE)
Fernando BENCKE BRANDAO (BRA)
Radoslav PERYANSKI (BUL)
Yingjie JIAN (CHN)
Miscael NKUNGA (COD)
Bozidar GRBINICEK (CRO)
Vaclav SATRAPA (CZE)
Mardo AERMUS (EST)
Matias ONNENLEHTO (FIN)
Giorgi GOGELASHVILI (GEO)
Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE)
Imre KOLOMPAR (HUN)
VINIT (IND)
Hossein KAZEMI (IRI)
Edgar DAVIDOV (ISR)
Edoardo VITALE (ITA)
Shu SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ)
Aktilek SADIROV (KGZ)
Ignat MEICO (MDA)
Heder SALDANA (MEX)
Kacper GOLONKA (POL)
Adrian SEICA (ROU)
Balaz UJHELJI (SRB)
Alisher RUZIMADOV (TJK)
Emirhan CAKIR (TUR)
Serhii YARCHENKO (UKR)
Dominic WILSON (USA)
Kaimaraz ARBAKHANOV (UWW)
Zakhar TSERASHKOU (UWW)
Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB)

80kg
Hayk MEKHRIYAN (ARM)
Christopher SZENTKIRALYI (AUT)
Nijat YEYLAGALIYEV (AZE)
Miguel XAVIER (BRA)
Valentin VALENTINOV (BUL)
Yuxiang TENG (CHN)
David VILK (CRO)
Stepan DANHEL (CZE)
Robert KOVALKOV (EST)
Luka MARTIASHVILI (GEO)
Stefanos VASDEKIS (GRE)
John SAENZ (GUA)
Dominik KERTESZ (HUN)
Samarth GOVEKAR (IND)
Taha Javid NOURI (IRI)
Koan VALENTINI (ITA)
Sora TAHARA (JPN)
Mardanbek MAKHKAMBAYEV (KAZ)
Nurislam OSKONBAEV (KGZ)
Benediktas BUBELEVICIUS (LTU)
Szymon TREDER (POL)
Dominik HERVAI (SVK)
Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK)
Ismail BEREKET (TUR)
Nestor BARAN (UKR)
Isai FERNANDEZ (USA)
Hleb DRAZHNIK (UWW)
Senik VARDANIAN (UWW)
Abdulaziz KHOLMIRZAEV (UZB)

92kg
Petros BAGHRAMYAN (ARM)
Niklas OEHLERER (AUT)
Said PASHAYEV (AZE)
Raphael RODRIGUES (BRA)
Yanko DELCHEV (BUL)
Yang JIN (CHN)
Jose PEREZ (COL)
Andrija MIKULIC (CRO)
Vitezslav ZAK (CZE)
Youssef RAYA (EGY)
Mamuka BIDZINASHVILI (GEO)
Ioannis MOUTOUSIDIS (GRE)
Zsombor KORODI (HUN)
NITIN (IND)
Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Haruto KITO (JPN)
Adilet TOISHY (KAZ)
Nurbek ABDAMITOV (KGZ)
Julius GIKARAS (LTU)
Vladislav VASYLEVSKYI (MDA)
Jose ESPARZA (MEX)
Tomasz MITAL (POL)
Ionut Erick PATRU (ROU)
Todor AKSENTIJEVIC (SRB)
Zong Han WU (TPE)
Ahmet UZUN (TUR)
Tymur LARIN (UKR)
David CALKINS (USA)
Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW)
Vadim DRAGUSHAN (UWW)
Fakhrikamol KOMILJONOV (UZB)

110kg
Khachik KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Rihad IBRAHIMLI (AZE)
Denis LAZAROV (BUL)
Hu Anshi NUERLEBIEKE (CHN)
Petr GRUBER (CZE)
Essam HUSSEIN (EGY)
Temuri SIMSIVE (GEO)
Maximilian LEO (GER)
Vasileios BOUNTOULIS (GRE)
HARDEEP (IND)
Yazdan Reza DELROUZ (IRI)
Taichi SATO (JPN)
Baktur SOVETKHAN (KAZ)
Umar ORMANOV (KGZ)
Angel GARCIA (MEX)
Mateusz TOMELKA (POL)
Vlad PETREAN (ROU)
Andrej SIMIC (SRB)
Aslan AGADADAYEV (TKM)
Emrullah CAPKAN (TUR)
Anatolii NOVACHENKO (UKR)
Alexander TAYLOR (USA)
Daniil MASLAKOU (UWW)
Dmitrii KOCHUROV (UWW)
Sayidamir NEMATOV (UZB)

#WrestleUlaanbaatar, #OffTheMat

Purevdorj reignites Olympic quest with Ulaanbaatar Open gold

By Vinay Siwach

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (June 18) -- The last time Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) wrestled in front of home crowd in Ulaanbaatar, she was one of the top wrestlers in the world at 62kg.

She was the 2017 world champion and a year before that, she had ended Kaori ICHO's (JPN) 13-year long unbeaten streak at the Ivan Yaryguin Grand Prix. Then in 2018, she won the Asian Championships in Bishkek and the Mongolian Open gold medal in Ulaanbaatar.

Few months later, she failed a dope test at the Asian Games, where she had won the gold medal in 62kg. Her rise turned into a fatal fall and Purevdorj was left to serve the four-year ban. During her long hiatus, Purevdorj focused on personal life.

“I was very sad but I decided to just live and raised my son. I kept myself busy with him,” Purevdorj says. “The most important thing is my mind. It's important to be strong.”

Purevdorj, who still remains Mongolia last world champion in wrestling, made her comeback in 2022 and was part of the Mongolian team to the World Cup. She won silver medal at the Asian Championships in 2023 and qualified for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Seven years since the ban and now in the twilight of her wrestling career, Purevdorj is hoping to reignite the fire to wrestle. She took the first step by winning a gold medal at hte Ulaanbaatar Open. The 31-year-old won in 62kg in front of her family and local fans to once again stamp herself as the best wrestler in Mongolia and even Asia.

"I am wrestling for the second time [first time internationally] this year but it's hard," she says after her gold-medal bout against compatriot and rival Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) who she defeated 11-2 to win the gold medal.

At the Buyant Ukhaa Sport Palace in Ulaanbaatar, Purevdorj is joined by her husband, son and even parents as they watch her wrestle live after a long time. It's not an ideal start for her as she gets hammered 10-0 by Alina KASABIEVA (UWW), a wrestler she has defeated multiple times in her career before.

That's not what Purevdorj or her family expected in the first bout itself. But she runs back to the warm-up hall and prepares for the second bout, this time against Asian champion MANISHA (IND). And Purevdorj looked in form against the Indian, winning via fall. [The 62kg bracket at the Ulaanbaatar Open was a round-robin bracket, hence giving Purevdorj the second chance].

The fall helps Purevdorj get five classification points and a place in the semifinal over Manisha. She will wrestle Ekaterina KOSHKINA (UWW) for a spot in the final. Her son, six years old, keeps cheering every time he sees his mother on the mat.

Koshkina takes Purevdorj to the limits scoring via counters. Still, Purevdorj led 9-7 at the break and both resumed their dynamic wrestling. Purevdorj managed to defend some of the attacks from Koshkina and ultimately won 15-11.

In a high-affair all-Mongolian final at 62kg, Purevdorj put on a defensive masterclass to beat Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL), 11-2, and capture the gold medal.

"I was able to win because I played calmly," she said after the final. "In the first match, I was not good mental state and was not ready. But next match I was better."

Purevdorj celebrated with a few photos with her family and coaches. She looked visibly tired after the four bouts and could use some rest days.

"As I said, it's hard. I am not sure about anything," said Purevdorj, who was wrestling a UWW tournament for the first time since the Paris Games.

Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL)Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL) celebrating after becoming a world champion in 2017. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

When she began wrestling 17 years ago in Ulaanbaatar after her cousins introduced her to the sport, Purevdorj did not think she will reach this level. So being a world champion makes her feel happy and she is proud that she choose this sport.

“I'm seventh child in my family and only I am a wrestler. My cousins were wrestlers but they stopped soon but I never stopped. I really loved it."

But she regrets not having an Olympic medal. She has been on that stage twice but fell short. In Rio 2016, she lost in the repechage while in Paris, she lost to her long-time rival Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) in the bronze-medal bout.

Now, the only motivation to be at the 2028 Los Angeles is to get an Olympic medal which may complete her journey. A medal will make her the third Mongolian wrestler to win a medal in Women's Wresting.

“I'm not sure about wrestling till Los Angeles. But I'm just trying,” she said. “The last Olympics were so hard for me in my career. I'm trying again, and I've started this year. There are many wrestlers in 62kg who are better but I have to train more.”