Taishan will become the official mat provider for all United World Wrestling events and is the first of a number of new partnerships set to be announced since the sport's governing body rebranded from the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles.

In addition, the firm says it will work with United World Wrestling to distribute mats to resource-challenged countries in need of additional support.

The agreement was made official at a signing ceremony during the 2014 Wrestling World Championships currently taking place in Tashkent, between United World Wrestling's President Nenad Lalovic and Gang Cui, executive director of Taishan.

"Taishan came to me after wrestling was temporarily voted off the Olympic Programme," revealed Lalovic, who was re-elected for a sixth term as head of wrestling on Sunday (September 7).

"They told me that no matter what happened they wanted to be our partner and contribute to the sport of wrestling.

"That decision showed their commitment to the sport of wrestling worldwide.

"With Taishan we want to innovate our competition but also play a part in the development of wrestling.

"With Taishan helping us build necessary infrastructure in countries that need resources to develop, this is another step in changing our sport for the better."

Taishan will supply mats for all United World Wrestling competitions up until the end of 2020 ©AFP/Getty Images




Founded in 1978, Taishan Sports Industry Group has grown to become one of China's largest sports equipment firms and employs more than 2,000 people.

As well wrestling, the firm has contracts in place with a range of other sports including gymnastics, judo, athletics and boxing and was one of the largest suppliers at London 2012.

"We are extremely pleased to be an official sponsor of United World Wrestling," said Cui.

"Taishan sees this as long term partnership that will contribute to the sport of wrestling.

"We are fully committed and hope to innovate and contribute our expertise to wrestling competitions worldwide."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related Stories
September 2014: Lalovic re-elected as President of United World Wrestling