National freestyle wrestler claims silver in Albania

Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler Ashraf Ashirov has claimed a silver medal in the U23 World Championships held in Tirana, Albania.

The wrestler, who represented the Central Army Sports Club, secured the medal in the men's 79kg weight division, Azernews reports.

The 2023 U23 World Wrestling Championships was the sixth edition of the U23 World Wrestling Championships of combined events. Around 587 wrestlers from 58 countries took part in the championships.

Ashraf Ashirov is an Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler competing in the 79 kg division.

In 2021, he won the silver medal in the men's 79 kg event at the 2021 World Junior Wrestling Championships held in Ufa, Russia.

In 2022, he won one of the bronze medals in the men's 79 kg event at the 2022 European U23 Wrestling Championship held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Ashraf Ashirov won the silver medal in the 79 kg event at the 2022 European Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. He competed in the 79 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.

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.

Furthermore, Magomedkhan Magomedov (97kg) has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Magomedov secured the Olympic berth after defeating Georgian Givi Matcharashvili (6-1) in the semifinals of the World Championships held in Belgrade this September.