China's Lili Meng is the reigning World Champion at this weight division, one of the most balanced in all of women's wrestling. Meng defeated surprising Diletta Giampiccola of Italy in the gold-medal finals last year, helping lead China to its first World Team title. Meng was a silver medalist at the 1999 World Championships, as well as a 2001 World Cup silver medalist.    Giampiccola placed 10th in the 1999 Worlds and fifth in the 2000 Worlds, showing impressive improvement leading up to last year's silver medal. Placing third at the 2001 World Championships was veteran Lene Aanes of Norway, who was also a 1998 World silver medalist.  Aanes was second in the 2002 European Championships, as well.    The 2001 World Champion was veteran star Nikola Hartmann of Austria, a five-time World Champion. When she is on, Hartmann can tear through a field of competitors. However, throughout her career, Hartmann has also fallen out of the placements at some major events. The question will be if Hartmann is at her best this year coming in.    The 1999 World Champion was Ayako Shoda of Japan. However, the top Japanese athlete in recent years has been Rika Iwama, the 2000 World silver medalist. Iwama won a gold medal at the 2001 World Cup, and has been competitive on the international circuit for many years.    Germany's Stephanie Gross has competed in the World medal round for two straight years, winning a World bronze medal in 2000 and placing fourth in the World in 2001.     Malgorzata Bassa of Poland has been the European champion for two straight years, winning in 2001 and 2002. She placed a solid fourth at the 2000 World Championships, and captured the gold medal at the 2002 University World Championships.    The American entry for the last three World Championships has been Sara McMann, who had her best finish in 2000 when she placed ninth in the world. McMann has been consistently excellent on international tours, but has yet to place herself in the medal rounds at the World meet. McMann had the toughest draw of all U.S. athletes at last year's World Championships. McMann will be tough to beat, especially if she gets on a roll in early rounds. She defeated a five-time World medalist, Kristie Marano, to earn the U.S. spot on this World Team.    2001 Junior World Champion Tara Hedican of Canada is a rising young star. She placed third at the 2001 World Cup, and captured a gold medal at the 2002 Dave Schultz Memorial International. Canada has built a very strong international program, and Hedican has a bright future at this weight division.    Russia did not have an athlete place at this weight last year. The two previous years, veteran Natalia Ivanova was a top 10 finisher at this division. However, Ivanova has competed at 59 kg earlier this season. 2001 Junior World silver medalist Daria Nazarova claimed a bronze medal at the 2002 European Championships, making her a strong contender for this year's World Championships.    The 2002 Asian Games champion was China's Xu Haivan, who beat Kaori Icho of Japan in the finals. She was also a silver medalist at the 2002 University World Championships. If would be a surprise if Haivan was the Chinese entry at this weight rather than World Champion Lili Meng.     The bronze medalist at the 2002 Asian Games was Tumen-ulzii Myagmarsuren of Mongolia, a nation with a strong men's freestyle team which is just getting its women's program going.    Vohla Khilko of Belarus was fifth at the 2001 World Championships, but placed only eighth at this year's European Championships. Lyudmila Golovchenko of Ukraine was seventh at the 2001 World meet, and had an impressive fourth place finish at the 2002 European Championships.    Lotta Andersson of Sweden was third in the 1999 Worlds and placed in the top 10 of the World Championships the last two years. Unise Hurtado of Venezuela was the 2002 Pan American champion. Capturing the gold medal at the African Championships this year was Garram Rim of Tunisia.  Other athletes with potential include Michala Krizkova of the Czech Republic, Sebastiana Jimenez of Spain, and Raia Valeriana Raitcheva of Bulgaria.    This weight division has had a different champion each of the last three years. The biggest name in the division has been Nikola Hartmann, a five-time champion. However, a number of wrestlers in the field have the talent and experience to make a run for the title, and it would not be an upset if a new champion is crowned in Halkida this year.     2001 World Championships results   136.5 - Gold - Lili Meng (China) dec. Diletta Giampiccola (Italy), 4-0; Bronze  - Lene Aanes (Norway) dec. Stephanie Gross (Germany), 3-0; 5th - Volha Khilko (Belarus); 6th - Bassa Malgorzata (Poland); 7th - Lyudmila Golovchenko (Ukraine); 8th - Patricia Leibel (Canada); 9th - Lotta Andersson (Sweden); 10th - Michala Krizkova (Czech. Republic)    2000 World Championships results   62 kg/136.5 lbs. - Gold - Nikola Hartmann (Austria); Silver - Rika Iwama (Japan); Bronze - Stephanie Gross (Germany); 4th - Malgorzata Bassa (Poland); 5th - Diletta Giampiccolo (Italy); 6th - Lotta Andersson (Sweden); 7th -  Natalia Ivanova (Russia); 8th - Lene Aanes (Norway); 9th - Sara McMann (USA); 10th - Iliana Selnicka (Bulgaria)    1999 World Championships results   62 kg/136.5 lbs. - 1st - Ayako Shoda (Japan) dec. Lili Meng (China), 5-2; 3rd - Lotta Andersson (Sweden) dec. Jane Hofweber (Canada), 7-6; 5th - Lauren Lamb (USA); 6th - Nikola Hartmann (Austria); 7th - Unilce Hurtado (Venezuela); 8th - Lene Aanes (Norway); 9th - Natalia Ivanova (Russia); 10th - Diletta Giampiccolo (Italy)    Each day this week, TheMat.com will preview a weight class at the 2002 Women's World  Championships, set for Halkida, Greece, Nov. 2-3. Please visit TheMat.com each day for a new preview of the championships. To discuss the World Championships with other fans, please visit the International Board or the Women's Wrestling Board on TheMat.com Message Boards.