(Left to right): Rui MARTA (POR), Mohamed MAHMOUD ALY (EGY), Ed DUNCAN (USA), Pedro SILVA, Jean-Daniel REY, Marian BERBEC (ROU), Jian WANY (CHN), Erol KARACA (UKR), Papakonstantinou KONSTANTINOS (GRE).
SARIGERME, Turkiye (October 16) --- After four stops on three continents, the Beach Wrestling World Series came to an end in Sarigerme, Turkiye this weekend.
The World Series began in Buenos Aires (ARG) before travelling to Singapore (SGP), returning to Saint-Laurent-du-Var (FRA) and Constanta (ROU) and the final stop in Sarigerme.
The 2023 edition of the series saw both the number of participating countries and wrestlers grow exponentially. The number of participating nations doubled from last year with more than 50 nations participating from five continents. There was a growth of 30 percent in the number of wrestlers, both men and women, on the beach.
The Beach Wrestling Committee organized its yearly meeting on the sidelines of the final stop in Turkiye with committee President and United World Wrestling Bureau member Pedro SILVA headed the meet.
Silva presented the report to the committee members, underlining the continuous growth of Beach Wrestling. The report noted the participation of additional countries like Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina, Bangladesh, Singapore, Senegal, Australia, among others, highlighting that Beach Wrestling being on the right path.
“We are very happy with the progress, growth and development that we are witnessing worldwide regarding Beach Wrestling,” said Silva, Beach Wrestling Committee President. "This must leave us all proud of our achievements and also very confident about our future.”
The meeting reviewed the current rules and regulations of Beach Wrestling and Committee members agreed that a few minor adjustments need to be made.
From the next season of Beach Wrestling will see an activity period being added to avoid any subjective decision by the refereeing body in case of negative wrestling with a 0–0 score.
It was also noted that wrestlers should be paired better in a situation with three groups. Bleeding time in Beach Wrestling was also increased to four minutes.
The Beach Wrestling calendar for 2024 was also discussed in the meeting as UWW received many proposals. UWW will do its best to publish the 2024 calendar by the end of this year.
The Committee also spoke about the potential collaborations that can be finalized for next season (producers of rings, wrestlers’ apparel).
Members also brought up the topic of sustainability and climate change and it was unanimously approved that Beach Wrestling should spearhead these projects.
The World Series in 2023, especially the final stop, showed that the discipline has the dedication of people associated with it. With the support of each National Federation, the future is full of hope and bright.
Follow Beach Wrestling on Instagram: @uwwbeachwrestling or on Youtube: @BeachWrestlingWorldSeries.
