Ibragim Kadiev (Photo UWW)
There were no surprises on day one of the second wrestling Ranking Series of the season as established stars made it to the top of the podium in Tirana.
The 2026 Muhamet Malo event began with six weight classes, 57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg and 86kg with competition in the last weight class being most anticipated.
World champion at 79kg Georgios Kougioumtsidis of Greece, former world champion Kyle Dakeof the USA, world bronze medalist Arsenii Dzhioev of Azerbaijan and upcoming star neutral athlete Ibragim Kadiev were all gearing up to claim the gold.
In the end, it was Kadiev who moved through a tough bracket to come out on top at 86kg and win his first significant senior medal to start his season.
Kadiev second bout pitted him against birthday boy Dake, who was making his international debut at 86kg. Dake managed to get control of Kadiev few times but failed to convert them into takedowns. Kadiev led 5-1 at the break, before a mini-comeback from Dake which saw the score change to 7-4. However, Kadiev switched levels in the final minutes and raced to an 11-4 victory.
Awaiting Kadiev in the semifinal was Dzhioev, who had defeated Vladimir Gamkrelidze of Georgia in earlier rounds. Kadiev scored a takedown for two points before getting one more point for Dzhioev’s passivity. The Azerbaijan wrestler managed to sore two stepouts in the second period but never finished his attacks as Kadiev hung on for a 3-2 victory.
Then came Kougioumtsidis who recovered from a disappointing Zagreb Open, where he lost in the first round, to reach the final in Tirana with three wins via technical superiority. He began well against Kadiev in the final with and led 4-2 but Kadiev locked the Greece wrestler in a lace to finish the bout 15-4.
Dzhioev and Dake clashed in the bronze medal bout and the former completed a 4-1 victory do deny Dake a medal on his 35th birthday.
Uguev Keeps It Simple
World champion Zavur UGUEV showed first signs of struggle in the final in an otherwise flawless performance as he captured the 61kg gold medal.
Uguev, who is also the European champion at 61kg, used the duck-unders to great effect, first against Simone Piroddu of Italy to win 10-0 and then to beat American Nathan Tomasello, 7-1.
He faced a more stingy Austin Desanto of the USA in the semifinals but managed to see him off 5-0, keeping his distance from the U.S. wrestler.
Perhaps that helped Uguev in the final as he felt the pressure from Chermen Tavitov, especially in the final minute. He built a 3-0 lead and was avoiding getting into scramble when Tavitov managed to score stepout.
But Uguev challenged and won which removed the one point for Tavitov and gave him a breather. Soon after, Uguev attacked to get two points and extend his lead to 5-0. He gave up two points as well but managed to hold his lead and win 5-2.
The win also confirmed that Uguev will defend his 61kg title at the European Championships at the same venue in April.
“For me, this tournament was a wrestle-off,” Uguev said. “The final is always tough. The strategy was to keep moving, attack, wrestle actively, with constant pressure. Some things worked, some didn’t. It was my first time facing him, he’s a worthy opponent.”
Though he has not been at 57kg, the Olympic weight in which he won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, since finishing fifth at the 2023 World Championships, Uguev said he hopes to win a second Olympic gold in 2028.
“Look at Abdulrashid SAadulaev! He still loves to wrestle. We talk a lot, and I find it very interesting,” he said. “He doesn’t even think about stepping away from wrestling. Guys like him motivate me, and I am aiming for a second Olympic gold.”
Lee, Sujeet Repeat
At the season opening Zagreb Open Ranking Series, Spencer Lee of the USA and Sujeet of India won gold medals in contrasting styles. But in Tirana, both had similar runs as they repeated as champions at 57kg 65kg respectively. Both Lee and Sujeet won their respective four bouts via technical superiority.
Lee combined to outscore his opponents 49-8 while Sujeet made it 47-4.
Among the victims of Lee’s incredible performance were former world bronze medalist Horst Lehr of Germany and Ramiz Gamzatov. Lehr went for double-leg blast right off the whistle to shock Lee with a four-pointer. But Lee remained composed and quickly finished the semifinal, 14-4, using a leg lace.
Gamzatov never seemed to trouble Lee who again managed an early finish, beating the UWW wrestler 10-0 with a gut-wrench.
Sujeet warmed up with a 16-4 victory over Endrio Avdyli of Albania, who tossed the Indian for a four at the start of the bout.Nika Zakashvili of Georgia fell next, 10-0, before Sujeet defeated Joseph McKenna of the USA, 11-0, the same score line as the one in the semifinals of the Zagreb Open.
Rashid Babazade of Azerbaijan, who pulled off an incredible buzzer-beating four-pointer in the semifinals against Vitali Arujau of the USA to win 16-13, failed to put up a fight in the final. Sujeet laced him to win 10-0 to capture a second straight Ranking Series gold medal.
Kyrgyzstan and Iran captured gold medals as well with Asian champions Ernazar Akmataliev of and Yones Emami winning at 70kg and 74kg respectively.
Akmataliev had to dig deep in the final against Alec Pantaleo of the USA as he fell behind 2-1 with less than 30 seconds remaining. He had to score a reverse lift exposure for two points to lead 3-2 and then keep both his hands locked around the American wrestler to avoid giving up a point for counter.
It was originally scored two points for each wrestler, giving Pantaleo a 4-3 win but Akmataliev challenged the decision and the two points for Pantaleo were removed, making the Kyrgyzstan wrestler a 3-2 winner.
Orozbek Toktomambetov of Kyrgyzstan was not so lucky as Emami never gave any opening to him in the 74kg final. After getting the first point via activity clock, Emami scored a takedown and turn to lead 5-0 in the first period. There were no more points scored in the bout.
RESULTS
57kg
GOLD: Spencer LEE (USA) df. Ramiz GAMZATOV (UWW), 10-0
BRONZE: Horst LEHR (GER) df. Atish TODKAR (IND), 19-8
BRONZE: Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE) df. Akshay DHERE (IND), 9-2
61kg
GOLD: Zavur UGUEV (UWW) df. Chermen TAVITOV (UWW), 5-2
BRONZE: Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) df Merey BAZARBAYEV (KAZ), 3-0
BRONZE: Austin DESANTO (USA) df. Nathan TOMASELLO (USA), 8-0
65kg
GOLD: SUJEET (IND) df. Rashid BABAZADE (AZE), 10-0
BRONZE: Joseph MC KENNA (USA) df. Nika ZAKASHVILI (GEO), 7-0
BRONZE: Vitali ARUJAU (USA) df. Joshua KRAMER (ECU), 11-7
70kg
GOLD: Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) df. Alec PANTALEO (USA), 3-2
BRONZE: Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (UWW) df. Maiis ALIYEV (KAZ), 5-1
BRONZE: Zalkarbek TABALDIEV (KGZ) df. Austin GOMEZ (MEX), via inj. def.
74kg
GOLD: Yones EMAMI (IRI) df. Orozbek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ), 5-0
BRONZE: Quincy MONDAY (USA) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 9-
BRONZE: Inalbek SHERIEV (UWW) df. Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN), via inj. def.
86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (UWW) df. Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), 15-4
BRONZE: Bolat SAKAYEV (KAZ) df. Alp Arslan BEGENJOV (TKM), 10-6
BRONZE: Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) df. Kyle DAKE (USA), 4-1
