Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestler have advances to the semifinals of U 17 World Wrestling Championship, Azernews reports.
Abdurrahman Huseynli (45 kg) defeated American Thales Silva 6:3 and Georgian Saba Abashidze 9:6 to reach the semifinals. He will next face Kyrgyzstani Nurkerim Kumarbekov.
Hikmat Hagverdiyev (51 kg) beat Romanian Andrei Pelean 7:0 and Norwegian Abu Bakar Saga 9:2 to secure a semifinal spot. He will compete against Kyrgyzstani Islam Kurbanov for a place in the final.
Ali Nazarov (60 kg) defeated Croatian Roko Curic 5:1, Georgian Lazare Gogotishvili 10:1, and Uzbek Humoyun Erkinov 9:0 with technical superiority. In the semifinals, he will face Iranian Abolfazl Eshaghi.
Yusif Ahmadli (71 kg) won by technical superiority (8:0) over Turkish Emirhan Cakir, then defeated Georgian Giorgi Gogelashvili 7:2 and Tajikistani Alisher Ruzimadov 9:5. He will face Uzbek Behruzbek Valiev in the semifinals.
Said Pashayev (92 kg)was eliminated after losing 1:6 in the round of 16 to Iranian Amirsam Mohammadi.
In the repechage rounds, Gurban Majnunov (48 kg) lost 3:7 to American Michael Rand, and Huseyn Isgandarov (65 kg) was pinned by teammate Arseni Kikiniou. Conversely, Nihat Bahmanov (55 kg) defeated Brazilian Lavoisier Maruso 3:1 in the repechage and will compete for the bronze medal against Tajikistani Makhdi Barotov. Nijat Yeylagaliyev (80 kg), who beat Ukrainian Nestor Baran 6:5 in the repechage, will wrestle Turkish Ismail Bereket for the bronze.
Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the country and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.
The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive games.
In 2020, Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers finished third in the overall medal table of the Individual World Cup in Serbia.
National wrestlers won two medals, including silver and bronze. Russia topped the medal table, followed by Turkiye.
The national team also won five medals at the Grand Prix Moscow held in Russia.
In 2022, Azerbaijani wrestler Osman Nurmagomedov (92 kg) was crowned the World Champion in Belgrade.
Nurmagomedov became the World Champion after defeating the Russian wrestler in the final.
At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Greco-Roman wrestler Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg), freestyle wrestlers Giorgi Meshvildishvili (125 kg) and Magomedkhan Magomedov (97 kg) won bronze medals for Azerbaijan.
