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European U23 Wrestling Championships 2024 has kicked off in Baku, Azernews reports.

The National Anthem of Azerbaijan played at the opening ceremony of the event.

Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation, member of the United World Wrestling (UWW) Bureau Namiq Aliyev, wished success to all sportsmen, noting that holding such a competition in Azerbaijan is a positive step.

He recalled the successes of the Azerbaijani sportsmen who won a license for the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the classification tournaments in Baku and Istanbul.

A member of the UWW European office, Karl Martin Dietmand expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan for hosting the competition. Then the event continued with the artistic part.

Greco-Roman wrestling competitions were held in the first days of the European Championship.

The national men's team includes Rashad Mammadov (55 kg), Nihad Guluzade (60 kg), Ziya Babashev (63 kg), Faraim Mustafayev (67 kg), Ruslan Nurullayev (72 kg), Khasai Hasanli (77 kg), Gurban Gurbanov (82 kg), Lachin Valiyev (87 kg), Murad Akhmadiyev (97 kg) and Sarkhan Mammadov (130 kg).

The women's team comprises of Shahana Nazarova (50 kg), Elnura Mammadova (53 kg), Gultakin Shirinova (55 kg), Jala Aliyeva (57 kg), Ruzanna Mammadova (59 kg), Nigar Mirzazade (65 kg) and Marziya Sadigova (72 kg). Birgul Soltanova (62 kg) won't take part in the competition amid the injury.

In the last days of the competition, Azerbaijan's freestyle wrestlers, Elman Aghayev (57 kg), Nureddin Novruzov (61 kg), Musa Agayev (65 kg), Kanan Geybatov (70 kg), Jabrayil Hajiyev (74 kg), Ali Tsokayev (79 kg), Arseniy Dzhioev (86 kg), Anar Jafarli (92 kg), Ravan Musayev (97 kg) and Yusif Dursunov (125 kg) will take to the mat.

European U23 Wrestling Championships 2024 is taking place at Baku Sports Palace.

The Azerbaijani referees of the first category Hijran Sharifov, Intigam Aliyev and Kamran Aliyev, has been appointed to officiate the U23 European Championships.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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