Azerbaijani freestyle and women’s wrestlers are continuing their campaign at the U23 World Wrestling Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, with several athletes advancing to bronze-medal bouts, Report news agency said.
In the women’s 53 kg division, Elnura Mammadova opened with a confident 9–0 victory over Turkey’s Sıla Aykul, but narrowly lost in the quarterfinals to Spain’s Carla Soler (11–14).
Gunay Gurbanova (59 kg) impressed with a dominant start, defeating Bulgaria’s Viktoria Boynova (8–1), followed by technical wins over Madalina Prisacari of Moldova (11–0) and Viktoria Khusainova of Kazakhstan (by fall). In a tense semifinal, she was edged out by Japan’s Ruka Natami (1–3) and will fight for bronze tomorrow.
In the 62 kg category, Birgul Sultanova lost by fall in her opening bout to Russia’s Ekaterina Koshkina.
Among the men, Magomed-Bashir Khaniev (74 kg) delivered a strong performance, defeating Georgios Ioakimidis of Greece (10–0) and Grigor Cholakyan of Armenia (14–5) before overcoming Magomedrasul Asruev of Bahrain (7–3). He fell in the semifinals to Turkey’s Muhammed Ozmush (3–7) and will also compete for bronze.
In the 92 kg weight class, Sadyg Mustafazade earned an impressive 10–0 victory over Spain’s Muhammedsultan Kopbaev, but was defeated in the round of 16 by Iran’s Mohammadmobin Azimi (0–8). Mustafazade will enter the repechage round tomorrow.
