BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16
Trend:
Three Azerbaijani athletes qualified for the finals of the World Cadet and Junior Wrestling Championships, which started in Russian Ufa city on Aug. 16, the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation told Trend.
Freestyle wrestlers in weight categories of 57, 65, 70, 79, and 97 kilograms competed on the first day of the competition.
In the opening match, Nureddin Novruzov (57 kg) gained a convincing victory over the Italian athlete. He also defeated the Mongolian wrestler and reached the semifinals. However, in the semifinals, Novruzov was defeated by a local wrestler, so he will fight for a bronze medal.
Ziraddin Bayramov (65 kg) defeated a Tajik wrestler in the first match. In the second match, Bayramov lagged behind his Georgian rival with a score of 2:5, but, showing incredible determination, he defeated the representative of Georgia and advanced to the semifinals of the World Cup. Having gained a victory over the US athlete at this stage, Bayramov reached the final of the championship.
Jabrayil Hajiyev (70 kg) gained an early victory over his Bulgarian opponent in the 1/8 finals, and later over a wrestler from Sweden and reached the semifinals, where he defeated a Russian wrestler and reached the final.
Ashraf Ashirov (79 kg) started the championship with a confident victory over the Latvian athlete with a score of 10: 0. With the same score in the 1/8 finals, he defeated the Mongolian wrestler. In the quarterfinals, Ashirov beat the Kyrgyz athlete and advanced to the semifinals. On the way to the final, Ashirov met with a Kazakhstani wrestler, and, defeating him, won the right to fight for the gold medal.
Azerbaijani wrestlers will start their performances tomorrow (on Aug. 18), at 17:00 (GMT+4).