National wrestlers make great strides in Turkey

By Azernews

By Arzu Abdullayeva

Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestlers have grabbed five medals, including a gold, in the 36th International Tournament in memory of Vehbi Emre and Hamit Kaplan, held in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 20-22.

The members of the national team finished the tournament with one gold, one silver, and three bronze medals.

Taleh Mammadov (63 kg) scooped gold medal of the tournament.

Other wrestlers Islam Abbasov weighing in at 87kg took the second place, while Sakit Guliyev, Kamran Mammadov and Elvin Mursaliyev won the third places in the 60 kg, 67 kg and 82 kg divisions respectively.

Along with Azerbaijan, the tournament brought together wrestlers from Turkey, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Bulgaria, India, Japan, and Kyrgyzstan.

Turkey topped the medal table followed by Belarus and Azerbaijan.

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.

The Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling has rich history and unique traditions.

The ‘national wrestling’ has a more ancient history. The elements of this national wrestling can be encountered on the Gobustan rocks in Azerbaijan, in folk and classical literature, and sagas.