Olympic champion wrestler Imre Polyák, 78, passed away after in incurable illness, announced the Hungarian Wrestling Federation on November 17, 2010.

After three Olympic silver medals (1952, 1956, 1960), he finally arrived to the top of the World in Tokyo, Japan in 1964 when he became Olympic champion in Greco-Roman at 63 kg. He was also three-time World Championships gold medalist (1955, 1958, 1962) and two-time runner-up in 1961 and 1963.

After his active career, he had worked as coach in his club and the national squad as well.

In Hungary, he was elected Wrestler of the 20th Century while FILA ranked him the second best Greco-Roman wrestler of the century. In 2003 he was inducted in the FILA Hall of Fame among the very first inductees.

The title ”Athlete of the Nation” was founded in Hungary in 2004 as due appreciation for the outstanding career of 12 former champions of various sports and Imre Polyák was selected as one of them.

The funeral arrangements of the great champion shall be organized by the Hungarian Wrestling Federation and the Hungarian Olympic Committee

Iran sealed the title of the Asian Senior Freestyle Wrestling Championship for the 20th time on Thursday.

In the competitions which were held in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Sports Complex with 17 participating teams, Iran finished first with three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, scoring 53 points.

Kazakhstan came behind Iran with 48 points. South Korea (46 points), Japan (41 points) and India (37 points) finished next, respectively.

The competitions will continue in Greco-Roman category with the participation of 13 teams

From the 12th to the 16th of May 2010, New Delhi (IND) welcomes the Senior Asian Championships. This event is also a ‘Test Event’ for the CommonWealth Games in October. You will follow with us all the championship on the special dedicated website http://www.fila-wrestling.com/newdelhi10 and see all the bouts on video in the FILA WebTV .

The first World Wrestling Cup was held in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. The 8 best nations of the Greco Roman style participated to this event (Turkey, Iran, Russia, Cuba, Hungary, Georgia, Armenia and a nordic team composed by swedish and danish wrestlers). The firsts fights began on the 13th of February 2010 and the finals took place on the 14th of February. You can consult all the results on the special website http://www.fila-wrestling.com/yerevan10/ and see all the videos on the FILA WebTV . More than 20 000 spectators have seen this competition in the wrestling area for a very good ambiance during all the fights.

SOUTH Africa will be represented by four amateur wrestlers – all from Gauteng – at the World Senior Championships, which will take place in Herning, Denmark, from September 22 to 27.

They are Heinrich Barnes (Gauteng North, 66kg division), Richard Addinall (Gauteng East, 74kg), Gerald Meyer (Gauteng North, 84kg) and Ettienne van Huyssteen (Gauteng North, 96kg).

Barnes, Meyer and Van Huyssteen are all from Tukkies, while Addinall is from Boksburg Wrestling Club. Barnes and Addinall have represented South Africa previously at these championships, while Meyer and Van Huyssteen will be making their debuts.

Of the four Barnes is the only one with Olympic Games experience. He is currently a student at the Oregon State University and ranked eighth at the American University Championships .

By SAM DAGHER – New York Times – Original here

DIWANIYA, Iraq — It doesn’t happen much in the Arab world, but a coach here decided in January to start an all-female wrestling team, the first ever in Iraq. The wrestlers love it and already dream of competing in the Olympics.

But there are many in this town south of Baghdad, which like much of Iraq is religious, conservative and governed largely by tribal tradition, who want the dozen girls and young women on the team to stop wrestling immediately. One tribesman has said they should be “slaughtered” if they continue. A Shiite cleric says the team should be banned because wrestling can lead to promiscuity and “transgressions” against Islam.

As a result of the pressure, four wrestlers have quit. But the rest, for the moment empowered by the post-invasion promise of greater democracy and equality, are defying the threats.

“They think we are loose girls just because we play sports,” said Ikram Hamid, 25, one team member.

Farah Shakir, 17, said, “It really is something different for Iraq, but I love the challenge.”

In fairness, it is not just female wrestling that troubles the traditionalists.

“I have information that male wrestling is problematic, too, because of all the friction that goes on,” said Sheik Hussein al-Khalidi, a turbaned cleric who sits on the provincial council.

But it is the women who have touched a nerve, perhaps partly because of their ambitions. Three other teams were set up in Iraq after Diwaniya’s was formed with the backing of Iraq’s wrestling federation. In June, all the teams took part in a championship, which the Diwaniya team won, qualifying for an Asian tournament in September in freestyle wrestling.

Some local people have become captivated by the female wrestlers and feel they are a fitting challenge to Iraq’s entrenched tribal and religious establishment, whose hold on society and people’s lives paradoxically became much tighter after the 2003 invasion. One supporter, Haidar Walid, 20, called the team a “sign of evolution and freedom.”

The controversy in Diwaniya underscores a fundamental struggle under way in Iraqi society as a whole. The grip of Sunni and Shiite armed groups that had compelled Iraqis to abide by what they considered moral behavior has loosened, and many people now feel free to express themselves in various ways. This was reflected during provincial elections in January, in which secular and relatively liberal parties did well.

On a recent scorching hot morning, the wrestlers, some veiled and others not, and dressed in shorts and soccer jerseys, filed into the wrestling gym at the Diwaniya sports club. They are allowed to use it only when male wrestlers have no practice.

A battered and dusty wrestling mat filled most of the room. The walls were adorned with framed photographs of male wrestlers, colorful posters of Shiite saints and the portrait of a local hero, Abbas Fadhel Jouda, an Iraqi wrestling champion killed two years ago by militiamen in Diwaniya because he was a police officer.

After a warm-up, Ms. Shakir and her teammates paired off and started practicing grapples and takedowns under the instruction of their coach and team founder, Hamid al-Hamdani, and his two assistants, all professional wrestlers.

Unlike Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling allows holds below the waist and legs to be used for a takedown. It is an internationally recognized sport, but women’s wrestling made its Olympic debut only five years ago at the Athens Games. Two other Arab countries, Egypt and Morocco, have female wrestling teams.

But Diwaniya’s team may face more than the usual obstacles on the road to gold. Iraq’s wrestling federation endorsed the team, but an official from that body refused to come to Diwaniya for the competition in June, fearing he would be killed, according to Mr. Hamdani.

In May angry tribal leaders petitioned the provincial council to ban the team after a television station showed one of the wrestlers practicing with her coach.

Since then the team has kept a low profile, abiding by local customs. During practice the girls are chaperoned by Ms. Shakir’s mother, Nawal Kadhim, and when they leave the club they are covered in head-to-toe black veils.

Still, many are taunted and cursed whenever they venture to the market. They are ostracized at school and constantly hectored by their teachers.

Mrs. Kadhim, who has five daughters on the team, was recently advised by relatives to leave Diwaniya and received threatening messages on her cellphone.

“Women will lose their femininity,” said a resident, Faris Abbas, 42, who like most opposes the female team.

A tribal leader, Gaith al-Kassir, 53, says the sport is against Islam and tribal traditions. “Women can do sports at home,” he said.

As with many other issues, Shiite religious leaders are divided on female wrestling. Some say there is no harm as long as the women are properly covered, while others say it is “absolutely forbidden,” according to one of the team’s coaches, who consulted the religious authorities in the city of Najaf.

Sheik Khalidi says he will continue to rally public opinion until the wrestling club is closed down. He is a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which is a religious party close to Iran and ruled the province until January’s elections, when it lost to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s party throughout the south. Although Mr. Maliki is an Islamist, his party has favored persuasion over coercion when it comes to shaping society’s values.

Despite the setback at the polls, Sheik Khalidi said his party was still convinced that Iraqis were becoming more conservative and attached to Islamic rituals and values.

Batoul al-Attiyah, a local physician, said she disagreed with Sheik Khalidi’s assessment of where Iraq was heading, even if she opposed female wrestling.

“Religion has become more about appearances than substance,” she said.

You can get full Coverage here

Sunday 02.08.09 Arrival of the delegations
Monday 03.08.09 08.30-11.00 Referees’ consultation
Till 12.00 Final entries for GR – all categories
15.00-16.00 Technical conference – all teams
16.00-17.00 Medical examination GR – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
17.15-17.45 Weigh-in GR – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
Tuesday 04.08.09 09.00-13.00 Qualification rounds GR – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
Repechage
15.00-16.00 Medical examination GR – cat 55-66-84-120 kg
16.15-16.45 Weigh-in GR – cat 55-66-84-120 kg
17.00-17.30 Opening Ceremony
18.00-20.00 Finals GR – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
Award ceremonies
Wednesday 05.08.09 09.00-13.00 Qualification rounds GR – cat 55-66-84-120 kg
Till 12.00 Final entries for FW – all categories
15.00-16.00 Medical examination FW – cat 44-51-59-67 kg
16.15-16.45 Weigh-in FW – cat 44-51-59-67 kg
17.00-18.00 Repechage GR – cat 55-66-84-120 kg
18.00-20.00 Finals GR – cat 55-66-84-120 kg
Award ceremonies
Thursday 06.08.09 09.00-13.00 Qualification rounds FW – cat 44-51-59-67 kg
15.00-16.00 Medical examination FW – cat 48-55-63-72 kg
16.15-16.45 Weigh-in FW – cat 48-55-63-72 kg
17.00-18.00 Repechage FW – cat 44-51-59-67 kg
18.00-20.00 Finals FW – cat 44-51-59-67 kg
Award ceremonies
Friday 07.08.09 09.00-13.00 Qualification rounds FW – cat 48-55-63-72 kg
Till 12.00 Final entries for FS – all categories
15.00-16.00 Medical examination FS – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
16.15-16.45 Weigh-in FS – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
17.00-18.00 Repechage FW – cat 48-55-63-72 kg
18.00-20.00 Finals FW – cat 48-55-63-72 kg
Award ceremonies
Saturday 08.08.09 09.00-13.00 Qualification rounds FS – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
15.00-16.00 Medical examination FS – cat 55-66-84-120 kg
16.15-16.45 Weigh-in FS – cat 55-66-84-120 kg
17.00-18.00 Repechage FS – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
18.00-20.00 Finals FS – cat 50-60-74-96 kg
Award ceremonies
Sunday 09.08.09 09.00-13.00 Qualification rounds FS – cat 55-66-84-120kg
16.00-17.00 Repechage FS – cat 55-66-84-120kg
17.00-19.00 Finals FS – cat 55-66-84-120kg
Award ceremonies
20.00 Final banquet
Monday 10.08.09 Departure of the delegation

PUNE, India, Aug. 1 (MNA) — Iran won the championship of the Asian U-16 Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship in Pune, India, on Saturday.

Iran claimed five gold medals and four bronzes, scoring 84 points in the competitions. Uzbekistan finished second behind Iran.

Mohammad Gholami in 46 kg class, Mehrdad Bahrami in 63 kg, Mehdi Zeidvand in 69 kg, Peyman Karegar in 76 kg and Mehdi Pursheikh in 100 kg won the gold and Ramin Taheri in 42 kg, Behnam Moradi in 54 kg , Ali Yusefikia in 58 kg and Saman Noruzi in 85 kg claimed bronze.

From the 21th to the 26th of July 2009, the European Cadets Championships will take place at Zrenjanin (SRB). You will follow all the results of the championship on the dedicated website for this event http://www.euchcad-wrestling2009.org.rs/index_e.html.

From the 17th to the 19th of July, the best wrestlers of the world will wrestle in Baku for the 2009 Golden Grand Prix’s final. Three days for the three styles, the greco-roman style will open the championship and the competition will finish on Sunday 19th by the free style and a team fight between Azerbaidjan and United States. Find all the informations about the competition (schedule, wrestlers, results….) on the website dedicated for the championship http://www.fila-wrestling.com/baku09/

You will also find all the bouts in video on the FILA WebTV http://www.fila-webtv.com/

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Nikola Stanchev, the wrestler who became Bulgaria’s first Olympic champion, has died, sports officials said Monday. He was 78.

Stanchev won gold in freestyle wrestling in the middleweight division at the 1956 Melbourne Games. He won a silver medal at the world championships in Istanbul the same year. Stanchev also won 11 Bulgarian titles, eight in freestyle and three in Greco-Roman style.

Wrestling is one of the most popular sports in Bulgaria, which has won 17 Olympic golds.