Freestyle wrestling bouts at the U-17 World Championships in Baku are set to begin on July 31, AzerNEWS reports.
Five Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers will compete on the fifth day of the tournament.
In the 48 kg category, Huseyn Rzazade will face the winner of the bout between Amirali Faz (Iran) and Aaryan Aaryan (India). Abbas Shafiyev (55 kg) will take on Temirlan Murat (Kazakhstan), while Rashid Nazarov (65 kg) will wrestle Erik Papikyan (Armenia). In the 80 kg division, Nihad Suleymanli will meet the winner of the match between Martin Mokras (Slovakia) and Ali Zakirjanov (Kyrgyzstan). Hakim Tagiyev (110 kg) will face Behruz Ashirov (Uzbekistan).
The wrestlers competing in the remaining five weight categories will enter the tournament on August 1.
In the women’s competition, Gulkhanim Shirinova (40 kg) and Fatima Bayramova (53 kg) will compete in repechage matches later today.
So far, Azerbaijan has won six medals at the championships. In Greco-Roman wrestling, Isfahan Hasanov (80 kg), Ali Javadli (45 kg), and Abdurrahman Huseynli (51 kg) claimed silver medals, while Omar Salmanov (48 kg), Elmir Cherkezov (60 kg), and Orkhan Habibli (65 kg) earned bronze medals.
The championships are being held at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, bringing together nearly 700 young wrestlers from more than 60 countries. 29 athletes at the tournament represent Azerbaijan.