The Greco-Roman wrestling competitions at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana will conclude today, October 27, with Azerbaijan aiming to add three more medals to its tally, including a potential third gold.
As reported by İdman.Biz, 2024 world champion Nihat Mammadli will face Armenia's Karen Aslanyan in the 63 kg final. The two wrestlers previously met at the 2024 World Championships in Tirana, where Mammadli secured a convincing 6-1 victory in the semifinals before going on to claim the gold medal. The Azerbaijani wrestler now has an opportunity to become a two-time world champion.
In the 67 kg category, Hasrat Jafarov will compete for a bronze medal after narrowly losing his semifinal bout to Iran's Olympic champion Saeid Esmaeili. The match ended 1-1, with the Iranian advancing on criteria.
Jafarov's opponent will be determined through the repechage rounds involving Ilyas Laaouina of the Netherlands, Jin Xinxin of China and Bagdat Sabaz of Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Islam Abbasov (87 kg), who suffered a narrow 5-6 defeat to Bulgaria's Olympic champion Semen Novikov in the round of 16, will begin his repechage campaign against Latana Sopa of American Samoa.
If successful, Abbasov will face Georgia's Lasha Gobadze, with a potential bronze medal bout against Uzbekistan's Muhammadkodir Rasulov awaiting him.
Abbasov and Gobadze have already met on the international stage. Their most recent confirmed encounter took place on April 22, 2023, at the European Championships in Zagreb, where the Georgian claimed a 3-0 victory in the bronze medal match. Gobadze had also defeated Abbasov 11-0 at the 2021 World Championships.
The repechage bouts are scheduled to begin at 09:30, while the medal matches will start at 17:00 Baku time.
Azerbaijan has already secured two gold medals at the championships in Astana, both in Greco-Roman wrestling. Eldaniz Azizli claimed the world title in the 55 kg category, while Sanan Suleymanov triumphed at 77 kg.
With Mammadli competing for gold and Jafarov and Abbasov pursuing bronze, Azerbaijan has an opportunity to finish the Greco-Roman competition with as many as five medals, including three golds.
