Wrestling: France names nine for the Astana World Championships

France sends nine wrestlers to the senior World Championships, held from October 24 to November 1 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The French Wrestling and Associated Disciplines Federation (FFLDA) published its team on October 20: four Greco-Roman wrestlers, three women and two freestylers. The tournament takes place at the Barys Arena in the usual order: Greco-Roman first, then women's wrestling, with freestyle closing the week. Finals are held every evening.

The French team

In Greco-Roman, Lucas Lo Grasso (60 kg) and Ibrahim Ghanem (77 kg) start on Saturday, October 24. Gagik Snjoyan (67 kg) and Vladimeri Karchaidze (87 kg) follow on Monday 26. The group is coached by Alain Hassli and Steeve Guénot, the 2008 Olympic champion in Beijing.

In women's wrestling, Kendra Dacher (76 kg) competes on Tuesday, October 27, with Tatiana Debien (53 kg) and Améline Douarre (62 kg) on Wednesday 28, under coaches Patrice Mourier and Fanel Carp. In freestyle, Quentin Sticker (65 kg) wrestles on Thursday 29 and Rakhim Magamadov (86 kg) on Friday 30, with Luca Lampis in the corner.

Several of them have already shone at youth level. Lo Grasso was U17 world runner-up in 2022 and reached the U20 world final last year. Snjoyan took U23 world silver in 2022, Karchaidze has three U23 European medals and Magamadov four. At senior level, Debien was European runner-up at 53 kg last year and took bronze at the Mediterranean Games, where Douarre won gold. Dacher owns a European bronze. At the European Championships in Tirana in April, France reached four finals, won one title and added two bronze medals.

Stacked brackets

The federation lists the main threats. At 67 kg, Snjoyan shares the weight class with Iran's Saeid Esmaeili, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion. At 77 kg, Ghanem shares the bracket with Armenia's Malkhas Amoyan, the reigning world champion, while Karchaidze meets Serbia's Aleksandr Komarov, defending champion at 87 kg. Debien could run into Ecuador's Lucía Yépez, Olympic silver medallist at 53 kg, and Magamadov into Bulgaria's Magomed Ramazanov, the 86 kg Olympic champion. At 65 kg, Sticker's bracket includes Iran's Rahman Amouzad, the reigning world champion.

These Worlds belong to the Olympic cycle that began in September 2025. According to the FFLDA, the first qualifiers for Los Angeles start in early 2027, so the goal is to test the team against the strongest nations and stay consistent through the week.

Bouts start at 10:30 local time, which is 5:30 GMT on Saturday, October 24. Every bout streams live on UWW+, the paid platform of United World Wrestling, which also offers replays. Results are posted on France Lutte's social media accounts.