Azerbaijani wrestlers to vie for Olympic berth

Bulgarian capital city Sofia will host European Wrestling qualifying tournament for the London Summer Olympic Games on April 20-22. Azerbaijani wrestling team will compete in 3 weight categories.

Mahmud Mahammadov (55kg), Toghrul Asgarov (60kg), Khetag Gazyumov (96kg), Aslanbek Alborov will leave for Sofia for the first qualifying tournament. The Azerbaijani Greco-roman wrestling team, including Hasan Aliyev (60kg), Kamran Mammadov (reserve), Vitali Rahimov (66kg), Rustam Aliyev (reserve), Rafig Huseynov (74kg), Shalva Gadabadze (96kg), Masud Hashimzade (120kg) and Maxim Proxorov will in turn leave for Sofia spearheaded by coaches Salih Bora and Mutaalib Yerlikaya.

Last year`s world championship saw 2 Azerbaijani Greco-roman wrestlers Rovshan Bayramov (55kg) and Saman Tahmasibi (84kg) winning a spot at the Olympic games. Azerbaijani woman wrestlers, including Yuliya Ratkevich (55kg), Irina Netreba (63kg), Nadya Sementsova (reserve) and Dina Ivanova (72kg) will also compete for the Olympic berth.

Azerbaijani women wrestling team has already 1 Olympic qualification (Mariya Stadnik - 48kg).
Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation Ajdar Jafarov will represent Azerbaijan as referee during the first qualifying tournament.


/AzerTAc/