Azerbaijan wins first Greco-Roman World Cup

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Iranian capital Tehran hosted the Greco-Roman Wrestling World Cup on February 19-20.

Sportsmen from Azerbaijan, Iran, Germany, Russia, Hungary, Turkey, Sweden and Armenia took part in the competition.

Azerbaijan`s national wrestling team claimed its first ever gold medal at this grandiose event, beating rival Russian team in the Friday night finale.

As the result of coin toss, Azerbaijan, Iran, Sweden and Germany fought in A group, while Russia, Hungary, Turkey and Armenia in B group.

The final round of the championship saw the victories of Azerbaijani wrestlers Hasan Aliyev (66 kg), Rasul Chunayev (71 kg), Rafig Huseynov (80 kg) and Islam Abbasov (85 kg) over Russian wrestlers.

The win was razor-thin with the two side tied on match score (4-4) and classification points (17-17), with the winner decided by the criteria of the most falls – a 1-0 distinction favoring Azerbaijan.

The deciding match came at 85kg between Islam Abbasov (AZE) and Davit Chakvetadze (RUS). Though the Russian wrestler opened the bout with a two-point throw, it was Abbasov who later converted a takedown attempt into an over-under pinning position and finished Chakvetadze with a minute remaining in the match.

Azerbaijan also received a lift from 71kg Rasul Chunayev (AZE). Already world-renowned for his fast spinning hips and devastating headlocks, Chunayev found another way to win as he downed 2014 world champion Chingiz Labazanov after the Russian was disqualified for a third leg foul.

Chunayev commenting on his victory said: “We were prepared very well and aimed to win the World Cup. And finally we reached our goal, despite bias of arbitrators. I myself held three fights, defeating wrestlers from Iran, Sweden and Russia. Especially I want to underline my victory over Sharur Vardanan of Sweden.”