National freestyle wrestlers claim medals in Croatia

Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler Aliabbas Rzazade (57kg) has claimed a gold medal at the 2023 Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Croatia, Azernews reports.

He secured the medal after the victory over Japanese Yuto Nishiuchi in the final bout.

Another national wrestler Haji Aliyev (70kg) won a silver medal, while Hajimurad Hajiyev (70kg) grabbed a bronze medal.

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

The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive Games.

In 2020, Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers finished third in the overall medal table of the Individual World Cup in Serbia.

National wrestlers won two medals, including silver and bronze. Russia topped the medal table followed by Turkey.

The national team also won five medals at the Grand Prix Moscow held in Russia. The national team won one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in the tournament

In 2022, Azerbaijani wrestler Osman Nurmagomedov (92 kg) was crowned the World Champion in Belgrade.

Nurmagomedov became the World Champion after defeating the Russian wrestler in the final. He has been crowned the champion of Azerbaijan in the weight category up to 86 kg in 2019.