#Grappling

World Combat Games Qualifiers: 12 Grappling Gi quotas confimed

Tuesday, May 2, 2023 - 12:50 By Vinay Siwach

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (May 1) -- On the second day of the World Combat Games Qualifiers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 12 more quotas were awarded, following an entertaining day one.

Sixteen Grappling quotas were earned on Sunday, while Monday saw 12 Grappling Gi athletes book their tickets for the World Combat Games to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in October 2023.

The qualification process for the World Combat Games began in 2022 in Pontevedra, Spain, which also offered 40 quotas. The four highest-placed grapplers in each of the senior weight categories qualified for the World Combat Games in Saudi Arabia, scheduled for October 2023.

In Tashkent, the process is the same, and the first four highest-placed athletes in each weight category will qualify for one quota place for their national federation. However, if more than one athlete from the same country is ranked in the first four highest places in a weight category, only one quota will be allocated to the country. The remaining quota(s) will be reallocated in the same weight category to the national federation of the next best-ranked athlete who has not yet qualified.

With the deadline fast approaching, the national federations must confirm the usage of the quotas won by their grapplers to United World Wrestling at the earliest.

Men's Grappling Gi

71kg
Alessio SACCHETTI (ITA)
Feruzbek UROKOV (UZB)
Sandor LAKATOS (HUN)
Fierre AFAN (PHI)

100kg
Eldar RAFIGAEV (MDA)
Evgenii SLESARENKO (KGZ)
Azizbek SHARIPOV (UZB)
Guglielmo CECCA (ITA)

Women's Grappling Gi

53kg
Zhenishgul ABDYRAKHMAN KYZY (KGZ)

64kg
Zilolakhon MUHAMMADOVA (UZB)

71kg
Shynar UZBEKOVA (KAZ)
Bubusaira ABDILMANAP KYZY (KGZ)

#WrestleBelgrade

Fujinami pulls out of Belgrade Worlds with foot injury

Wednesday, September 7, 2022 - 20:01 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (Sept. 7)--Reigning world champion and top seed Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) will not be defending her title at the upcoming World Championships in Belgrade after suffering a left foot injury, Japan national women's team coach Ryo KANEHAMA said on Wednesday.

According to the Japan Wrestling Federation website, Kanehama said in an online press conference that the 18-year-old Fujinami, who was to defend her 53kg title in Belgrade, suffered ligament damage to the instep of her left foot while sparring during the first day of a national team training camp in late August.

Press reports said that Fujinami, who was on crutches after the injury, is able to put enough weight on the foot to walk, but it has not healed sufficiently to wrestle in matches. She is expected to need eight weeks to fully recover.

Japan will not send a replacement in the weight class.

"From this point, there are many important competitions ahead," Kanehama was quoted as saying. "To keep from making [the injury] worse, we made this decision today."

Kanehama was mainly referring to the All-Japan Championships in December, which will be the starting point for the qualifying process for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It is there Fujinami is expected to clash for the first time with Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Mayu SHIDOCHI (formerly MUKAIDA), who is entered at 55kg in Belgrade.

Fujinami, who currently has a 103-match winning streak that dates back to her junior high school days in 2017, won the world title in Oslo last year in her first senior international tournament, winning all four of her matches by technical fall without conceding a point.