Baku hosts Freestyle and Greco-Roman Championship

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Freestyle and Greco-Roman Championship is underway at Baku Sports Palace.

Greco-Roman wrestlers Islam Abbasov (87 kg), Orkhan Nuriyev (97 kg) and Sarkhan Mammadov (130 kg) gold medals won gold medals at the championship.

In freestyle wrestling, Afgan Khashalov (57 kg), Islam Bazarganov (61 kg), Ziraddin Bayramov (65 kg) and Davud Ibrahimov (70 kg) rose to the highest step of the podium.

The country's strongest wrestlers in other weight categories will be determined in near future. 

The championship is co-organized by the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. 

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county 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 Turkey.

The national team also won five medals at Grand Prix Moscow held in Russia. The national team won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the tournament/

In 2021, Azerbaijani wrestler Osman Nurmagomedov (92 kg) has crowned the World Champion in Belgrade. 

Nurmagomedov became the World Champion after defeating the Russian wrestler in the final.

Meanwhile, Maria Stadnik  (50 kg) received a cash prize ($ 3,000) from the United World Wrestling (UWW). 

The two-time world and eight-time European champion ranked third in the world rankings after scoring 60 points. 

Earlier, freestyle wrestler Osman Nurmahammadov (92 kg) won $ 3,000, while Greco-Roman wrestler Rafig Huseynov (82 kg) received $ 10,000.