By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's wrestling team has returned home from the World Wrestling Championship held in Norway. 

The wrestlers were met at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport by the Azerbaijan Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov, representatives of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation, sports community and family members.

Farid Gayibov congratulated the wrestlers and wished them further success. 

In the World Wrestling Championship, Azerbaijan was represented by Eldaniz Azizli (55 kg), Murad Mammadov (60 kg), Taleh Mammadov (63 kg), Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg), Ulvi Ganizade (72 kg), Sanan Suleymanov (77 kg), Rafig Huseynov (82 kg), Islam Abbasov (87 kg), Murad Lokiayev (97 kg) and Beka Kandelaki (130 kg).

The wrestlers increased the country's medal haul with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

Rafig Huseynov (82 kg)  was crowned world champion in Norway. Sanan Suleymanov (77 kg) won silver, while Eldaniz Azizli (55 kg) and Murad Mammadov (60 kg) claimed bronze medals. 

The Azerbaijani national team scored 107 points and took third place in the team competition. First place was taken by Russia (152), followed by Iran (146).

The national team is trained by the head coaches Alexander Tarakanov, Rovshan Bayramov and coach Hasan Aliyev.

Around eleven freestyle wrestlers (two gold, three silver, and six bronze), five Greco-Roman wrestlers (one gold, one silver and three bronze), and nine medalists in women's wrestling (one gold, three silver, and five bronze) took part in the  World Wrestling Championship. 

The 2021 World Wrestling Championships is the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events.

The event is subsequent to the 2019 World Championships due to the cancellation of the 2020 edition during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020 Individual World Cup was held as a replacement for the World Wrestling Championships. The 2021 World Championships took place less than three months after the rescheduled 2020 Summer Olympics.