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AzerNEWS Staff

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BRATISLAVA — Azerbaijan’s Haji Karimov has reached the final of the U20 World Wrestling Championships in Bratislava after a strong run in the 70kg freestyle category.

On the seventh day of competition, freestyle wrestlers in the 70kg, 74kg, 97kg and 125kg weight classes took to the mat as the tournament in Slovakia moved towards its conclusion.

Karimov opened his campaign with a 5-1 victory over India’s Sumit Baraskar before defeating North Macedonia’s Muhamed Veseli 11-2.

In the quarter-finals, the Azerbaijani wrestler produced a dominant performance against Armenia’s Davit Davtyan, winning 12-0.

Karimov then overcame Egypt’s Mohamed Ahmed 9-2 in the semi-final to secure his place in the title bout.

He will face Iran’s Sina Mehdi Khalili in the 70kg final on the final day of competition.

Elsewhere, Ismayil Rahimli was eliminated in the qualification round of the 74kg category after losing 4-2 to Uzbekistan’s Farrukhbek Jumanazarov.

In the 97kg division, Farhad Suleymanli defeated Hungary’s Robert Erdelyi 11-0 to advance, but was beaten 19-8 by Belarusian wrestler Azamat Tsarikaev in the quarter-final.

In the 125kg category, Yusif Dursunov began with an 11-1 victory over Japan’s Hosei Fujita before edging India’s Ronak Ronak 3-2 to reach the semi-finals.

Dursunov narrowly missed out on a place in the final after losing 4-1 to American wrestler Dreshaun Ross. He will compete for a bronze medal on the final day.

Karimov’s final and Dursunov’s bronze-medal bout will bring Azerbaijan’s campaign in Bratislava to a close.