Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

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Azerbaijan's young wrestlers continue to shine at the U17 European Wrestling Championships in Skopje, North Macedonia, Azernews reports.

The third day of the Greco-Roman wrestling competition saw the final medalists determined with Azerbaijan's national team adding more honors to its name.

In the 45 kg weight category, Abdurrahman Huseynli delivered a dominant performance in the final, defeating Georgia’s Saba Abashidze with a clean 9–0 victory to secure the gold medal.

Meanwhile, in the 60 kg division, Ali Nazarov faced Armenia's Hayk Manukyan in the gold medal bout. Despite his efforts, Ali fell short and lost 3–11, earning the silver medal.

In the 51 kg category, Elshad Abbasov, who had earlier lost in the semifinals, wrestled for bronze against Hungary’s Keve Kovács, but was narrowly defeated 1–3, finishing just off the podium.

Earlier in the tournament, Rihad Ibrahimli had also claimed gold, while Gurban Majnunov (48 kg) and Nijat Yeylagaliyev (80 kg) brought home bronze medals.

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.

The national team won one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in the tournament.

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 2024 Summer Olympic, Greco-Roman wrestler Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg), freestyle wrestlers Giorgi Meshvildishvili (125 kg) and Magomedkhan Magomedov (97 kg) won bronze medals for Azerbaijan.