Marwa AMRI (TUN), an Olympic bronze medalist and three-time Olympian, will look to capture her ninth gold medal at the African Wrestling Championships this week in Marrakech, Morocco.
The African Wrestling Championships are set to begin on Wednesday with cadet competition. The junior competition is slated for Friday, with the seniors set to compete on Saturday and Sunday.
Amri, who is ranked No.3 in the world, was not only the first Tunisian Olympic medalist in women’s wrestling, but also the first African Olympic medalist in women’s wrestling. Last year her Olympic medal and African Games title both came at 58kg. She will compete at 60kg this week.
Nigeria has two returning champions entered in the women’s wrestling competition: Blessing OBORUDUDU (63kg) and Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (55kg).
Oborududu, a two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games silver medalist, will look to claim her seventh gold at the African Championships. She was ranked No.9 in the world going into the 2016 Olympics and finished 14th in Rio at 63kg.
Adekuoroye, an Olympian, was a Golden Grand Prix gold medalist this year and is currently ranked No.7 in the world. She was a bronze medalist at the World Championships in 2015.
Another wrestler looking to repeat in the women’s wrestling competition is Samar HAMZA (EGY) at 75kg. Hamza, a bronze medalist at the Grand Prix of Spain, competed in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Five wrestlers will be looking for repeat titles in the freestyle competition: Adama DIATTA (SEN) at 57kg, Amas DANIEL (NGR) at 65kg, Maher GHANMI (TUN) at 70kg, Mohamed SAADAOUI (TUN) at 86kg and Diaaeldin ABDELMOTTALEB (EGY) at 125kg.
Diatta, an Olympian, will be after his third straight gold medal at the African Championships. He was an All African Games gold medalist in 2015.
Amas has won three gold medals and a silver medal at the African Championships. He was also an All African Games champion and competed in the Rio Olympics.
Ghanmi won his first African Championships gold last year after finishing fifth in 2015.
Saadaoui, who wrestled in the Rio Games, has been active over the last couple months. He competed in the International Ukrainian Tournament in March and the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Tournament earlier this month.
Last year Abdelmottaleb finished ninth at the Olympic Games in Rio and fifth at the Golden Grand Prix.
In the Greco-Roman competition at the African Championships, four wrestlers will be looking to repeat as champions: Mahmoud Sebie (EGY) at 80kg, Bachir SID AZARA (ALG) at 80kg, Adem BOUDJEMLINE (ALG) at 85kg and Ahmed SAAD (EGY) at 98kg.
Sebie is moving up a weight class after winning his African title at 75kg last year. He competed at the Olympic Games in Rio.
Sid Azara won his first African title on the senior level last year after falling just short in 2015. Last year he was a bronze medalist at the Junior World Championships in Macon, France.
Both Boudjemline and Saad were All Africa Games gold medalists in 2015. They also competed in the Rio Olympic Games last year.
Zied AIT OUAGRAM (MAR) is entered at 75 kilograms and is a two-time Olympian, competing for Tunisia in 2012 and Morocco in 2016.
Tarek Aziz BENAISSA (ALG), a fifth-place finisher at the 2015 World Championships, is a top contender at 66 kilograms. He was a silver medalist at the African Championships a year ago.
Schedule
Wednesday, April 26
15:00: Qualification Rounds & Repechage, Cadet FW, GR all categories
17:00: Medical Examination, Cadet FS all categories
18:00: Weigh-in, Cadet FS all categories
19:00 Finals & Award Ceremonies, Cadet GR all categories
Thursday, April 27
15:00: Qualification Rounds & Repechage, Cadet FS all categories
17:00: Medical Examination, Junior FW, FS, GR all categories
18:00: Weigh-in, Junior FW, FS, GR all categories
19:00: Finals & Award Ceremonies, Cadet FS all categories
Friday, April 28
14:00: Qualification Rounds & Repechage, Junior FW, FS, GR all categories
17:00: Medical Examination, Senior FW, GR all categories
18:00: Weigh-in, Senior FW, GR all categories
19:00: Finals & Award Ceremonies, Junior FW, FS, GR all categories
Saturday, April 29
14:00: Qualification Rounds & Repechage, Senior FW, GR all categories
17:00: Medical Examination Senior FS all categories
18:00: Weigh-in, Senior FS all categories
19:00: Finals & Award Ceremonies, Senior FW, GR all categories
Sunday, April 30
14:00: Qualification Rounds & Repechage, Senior FS all categories
18:00: Finals & Award Ceremonies, Senior FS all categories
