#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Ranking Series entry list

By Eric Olanowski & Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (January 20) -- Wrestling fans will be treated to a grand season-opening Ranking Series event as Zagreb Open will see close to 600 wrestlers on the mat next month.

All three styles have big stars coming to set the tone for an important season which also includes Paris Olympics qualifying World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

The Croatian capital will see Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), Kyle SNYDER (USA), Ravi KUMAR (IND), Haji ALIYEV (AZE), Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK), J'den COX (USA), Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) on the mat in freestyle.

Women's wrestling will see a strong Japanese team including world and Olympic champion Yui SUSAKI (JPN) entered for the competition. Most of the Japanese team comprises the winners of the Emperor's Cup from December. The USA is also bringing a strong women's team with Helen MAROULIS (USA), Kayla MIRACLE (USA), Yelena MAKOYED (USA) among others.

Canada, China and India will also be represented by strong squads and the competition will see most wrestlers shifting to Olympic weight classes as well.

The Greco-Roman battles will restart as Iran, Azerbaijan and Hungary are bringing full squads. Most of the European countries are also entered means the likes of the Sterkenburg twins from the Netherlands and Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) are also entered.

The competition begins February 1 with freestyle followed by women's wrestling and ending with Greco-Roman.

All the live action and highlights can be accessed at uww.org or on the official UWW app.

Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) will return to mat in Zagreb. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Freestyle

57kg
Islam BAZARGANOV (AZE)
Aliabbas RZAZADE (AZE)
Wanhao ZOU (CHN)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Guesseppe REA VILLARROEL (ECU)
Valentin DAMOUR (FRA)
Roberti DINGASHVILI (GEO)
Beka BUJIASHVILI (GEO)
Aman AMAN (IND)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Rikuto ARAI (JPN)
Yuto NISHIUCHI (JPN)
Darian Toi CRUZ (PUR)
Zane RICHARDS (USA)

61kg
Adam BIBOULATOV (FRA)
Shota PHARTENADZE (GEO)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
PANKAJ (IND)
Reza ATRI (IRI)
Narankhuu NARMANDAKH (MGL)
Emrah ORMANOGLU (TUR)
Daniel DESHAZER (USA)
 
65kgAgustin DESTRIBATS (ARG)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Mikyay NAIM (BUL)
Shaohua YUAN (CHN)
Quentin STICKER (FRA)
Ilman MUKHTAROV (FRA)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Edemi BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Iszmail MUSZUKAJEV (HUN)
Joshua FINESILVER (ISR)
Ryoma ANRAKU (JPN)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Tulga TUMUR OCHIR (MGL)
Krzysztof BIENKOWSKI (POL)
Eduard GRIGOREV (POL)
Sebastian C RIVERA (PUR)
Evan HENDERSON (USA)
Joseph MC KENNA (USA)
Nicholas LEE (USA)

70kg
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Haji ALIYEV (AZE)
Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE)
AGUDAMU (CHN)
Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO)
Vishal KALIRAMANA (IND)
Gianluca TALAMO (ITA)
Temuulen ENKHTUYA (MGL)
Alec PANTALEO (USA)
Hayden HIDLAY (USA)
Tyler BERGER (USA)
 
74kg
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Miroslav KIROV (BUL)
Emmanuel OLAPADE (CAN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Jasmit PHULKA (CAN)
Shengsong XIA (CHN)
Nuerlanbieke WURENIBAI (CHN)
Amr Reda Ramadan HUSSEN (EGY)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Yones EMAMI (IRI)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Kirin KINOSHITA (JPN)
Kojiro SHIGA (JPN)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK)
Fazli ERYILMAZ (TUR)
Joseph LAVALLEE (USA)
Thomas GANTT JR (USA)
Jason NOLF (USA)

79kg
Simon MARCHL (AUT)
Callum MCNEICE (CAN)
Peilong LI (CHN)
Saifedine ALEKMA (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Csaba VIDA (HUN)
Ali SAVADKOUHI (IRI)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Ramazan SARI (TUR)
Chandler MARSTELLER (USA)
 
86kg
Benjamin GREIL (AUT)
Abubakr ABAKAROV (AZE)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Xiao SUN (CHN)
Akhmed AIBUEV (FRA)
Ruslan VALIEV (FRA)
Tariel GAPHRINDASHVILI (GEO)
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI)
Uri KALASHNIKOV (ISR)
Hayato ISHIGURO (JPN)
Sebastian JEZIERZANSKI (POL)
Myles AMINE (SMR)
Boris MAKOEV (SVK)
Zahid VALENCIA (USA)
Mark HALL (USA)

92kg
Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Pruthviraj PATIL (IND)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Radoslaw MARCINKIEWICZ (POL)
Jonathan AIELLO (USA)
Kollin MOORE (USA)

97kg
Ricardo BAEZ (ARG)
Magomedkhan MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Nishan Preet RANDHAWA (CAN)
Awusayiman HABILA (CHN)
Tuerxunbieke MUHEITE (CHN)
Givi MATCHARASHVILI (GEO)
Vladislav BAITSAEV (HUN)
Richard VEGH (HUN)
Sahil SEHRAWAT (IND)
Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Radoslaw BARAN (POL)
Zbigniew BARANOWSKI (POL)
Ibrahim CIFTCI (TUR)
Morgan SMITH (USA)
Jden COX (USA)
Kyle SNYDER (USA)

125kg
Johannes LUDESCHER (AUT)
Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)
Georgi IVANOV (BUL)
Reheman RUSIDANMU (CHN)
Benxin DUAN (CHN)
Daniel LIGETI (HUN)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
DINESH (IND)
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI)
Abraham CONYEDO (ITA)
Taiki YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Robert BARAN (POL)
Kamil KOSCIOLEK (POL)
Hayden ZILLMER (USA)
Jordan WOOD (USA)
Ceron FRANCISCO (USA)

Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)Koumba LARROQUE (FRA), blue, will compete at 68kg at the Zagreb Open. (Photo: UWW / Martin Gabor)

Women’s Wrestling

50kg
Patricia BERMUDEZ (ARG)
Turkan NASIROVA (AZE)
Mariya STADNIK (AZE)
Madison PARKS (CAN)
Ziqi FENG (CHN)
Meng FAN (CHN)
Jiang ZHU (CHN)
Emma LUTTENAUER (FRA)
Szimonetta SZEKER (HUN)
Shivani PAWAR (IND)
Emanuela LIUZZI (ITA)
Yui SUSAKI (JPN)
Gabija DILYTE (LTU)
Otgonjargal DOLGORJAV (MGL)
Anna LUKASIAK (POL)
Agata WALERZAK (POL)
Erin GOLSTON (USA)
Jasmina IMMAEVA (UZB)
Aktenge KEUNIMJAEVA (UZB)

53kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Samantha STEWART (CAN)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Diana WEICKER (CAN)
Yuhong ZHONG (CHN)
Li DENG (CHN)
Lucia YEPEZ GUZMAN (ECU)
Marina RUEDA FLORES (ESP)
Tetiana PROFATILOVA (FRA)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Vivien MATYI (HUN)
Stalvira ORSHUSH (HUN)
Sushma SHOKEEN (IND)
Akari FUJINAMI (JPN)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Bolortuya BAT OCHIR (MGL)
Khulan BATKHUYAG (MGL)
Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL)
Roksana ZASINA (POL)
Ahinsa FERNANDO (SRI)
Katie GOMEZ (USA)
Dominique PARRISH (USA)
Alisha HOWK (USA)
Shokhida AKHMEDOVA (UZB)
Dilshoda MATNAZAROVA (UZB)

55kg
Dorcas JOSE (ANG)
Mengyu XIE (CHN)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Laura STANELYTE (LTU)
Mariana DRAGUTAN (MDA)
Lauren MASON (USA)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

57kg
Giullia PENALBER (BRA)
Tianna KENNETT (CAN)
Hannah TAYLOR (CAN)
Alexandria TOWN (CAN)
Qi ZHANG (CHN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Ningning RONG (CHN)
Lana NOGIC (CRO)
Luisa VALVERDE (ECU)
Anna SZEL (HUN)
SITO (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Sae NANJO (JPN)
Anhelina LYSAK (POL)
Patrycja GIL (POL)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Helen MAROULIS (USA)
Alexandra HEDRICK (USA)
Amanda MARTINEZ (USA)
Laylokhon SOBIROVA (UZB)

59kg
Lidia VUVU (ANG)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Nikolett SZABO (HUN)
Viktoria BORSOS (HUN)
Yui SAKANO (JPN)
Anastasia NICHITA (MDA)

62kg
Sara LANDO (ANG)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Lais NUNES DE OLIVEIRA (BRA)
Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL)
Taybe YUSEIN (BUL)
Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
Ana GODINEZ (CAN)
ZHUOMALAGA (CHN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Xiaojuan LUO (CHN)
Lydia PEREZ (ESP)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)
Eniko ELEKES (HUN)
Elena ESPOSITO (ITA)
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)
Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ)
Grace BULLEN (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Natalia KUBATY (POL)
Lauren LOUIVE (USA)
Kayla MIRACLE (USA)
Ariukhan JUMABAEVA (UZB)
Dilfuza AIMBETOVA (UZB)

65kg
Iva GERIC (CRO)
BHATERI (IND)
Mahiro YOSHITAKE (JPN)
Forrest MOLINARI (USA)
Mallory VELTE (USA)
Emma BRUNTIL (USA)

68kg
Sofiya GEORGIEVA (BUL)
Olivia DI BACCO (CAN)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
RADHIKA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Danute DOMIKAITYTE (LTU)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Natalia STRZALKA (POL)
Wiktoria CHOLUJ (POL)
Marilyn GARCIA (USA)
Solin PIEARCY (USA)
Alexandria GLAUDE (USA)

72kg
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
REETIKA (IND)
Dalma CANEVA (ITA)
Sumire NIIKURA (JPN)
Skylar GROTE (USA)
Svetlana OKNAZAROVA (UZB)

76kg
Taylor FOLLENSBEE (CAN)
Justina DI STASIO (CAN)
Shauna KUEBECK (CAN)
Juan WANG (CHN)
Qian ZHOU (CHN)
Genesis REASCO VALDEZ (ECU)
Samar HAMZA (EGY)
Cynthia VESCAN (FRA)
Veronika NYIKOS (HUN)
KIRAN (IND)
Enrica RINALDI (ITA)
Ayano MORO (JPN)
Aiperi MEDET KYZY (KGZ)
Kamile GAUCAITE (LTU)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)
Dymond GUILFORD (USA)
Precious BELL (USA)
Ozoda ZARIPBOEVA (UZB)

Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) and Seyed SHORABI (IRI) will resume their rivalry at 67kg. (Photo: UWW / Kadir Caliskan)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
MANJEET (IND)
Mohammad JAVAHERI FARID (IRI)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Dalton DUFFIELD (USA)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Liguo CAO (CHN)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Nikolai MOHAMMADI (DEN)
Ahmed BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Leo TUDEZCA (FRA)
Krisztian KECSKEMETI (HUN)
Erik TORBA (HUN)
GYANENDER (IND)
Amirreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Maito KAWANA (JPN)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Michal TRACZ (POL)
Mateusz SZEWCZUK (POL)
Razvan ARNAUT (ROU)
Dalton ROBERTS (USA)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)
Randon MIRANDA (USA)

63kg
Mbiayavanga ADRIANO (ANG)
Aker AL OBAIDI (AUT)
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Helary MAEGISALU (EST)
SAGAR (IND)
Aref Hossein MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Jacopo SANDRON (ITA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Perica DIMITRIJEVIC (SRB)
Jesse THIELKE (USA)
Samuel JONES (USA)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)

67kg
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Sailike WALIHAN (CHN)
Husiyuetu HUSIYUETU (CHN)
Lei LI (CHN)
Luka IVANCIC (CRO)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Elmer MATTILA (FIN)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Tigran GALUSTYAN (FRA)
Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
Karanjit SINGH (IND)
ASHU (IND)
Reza Mahdi ABBASI (IRI)
Seyed SOHRABI (IRI)
Eito NISHIDA (JPN)
Katsuaki ENDO (JPN)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Mihai MIHUT (ROU)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

72kg
Stefan STEIGL (AUT)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Jian TAN (CHN)
Lovro ZURAK (CRO)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Jakub BIELESZ (CZE)
Jiri CAPEK (CZE)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Sajjad Ali IMENTALABFOUMANI (IRI)
Amir ABDI (IRI)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Roman PACURKOWSKI (POL)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Britton HOLMES (USA)
Patrick SMITH (USA)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
Jamol JUMABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Francisco KADIMA (ANG)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Aik MNATSAKANIAN (BUL)
Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN)
Rui LIU (CHN)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Oliver KRUEGER (DEN)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Akseli YLI HANNUKSELA (FIN)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Zoltan LEVAI (HUN)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
SAJAN (IND)
Amin KAVIYANINEJAD (IRI)
Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI)
Riccardo ABBRESCIA (ITA)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Minto MAEDA (JPN)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Kodai SAKURABA (JPN)
Paulius GALKINAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Per KURE (NOR)
Juan AAK (NOR)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Maksym ZAKHARCHUK (POL)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Fabio DIETSCHE (SUI)
Yunus BASAR (TUR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Tunjay VAZIRZADE (AZE)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Ivo SVIGLER (CZE)
Marcel HEIN (DEN)
Ranet KALJOLA (EST)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Peter DOEMOEK (HUN)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Alireza MOHMADIPIANI (IRI)
Pejman POSHTAM (IRI)
Marc WEBER (SUI)
Spencer WOODS (USA)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)

87kgBachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Michael WAGNER (AUT)
Lukas STAUDACHER (AUT)
Mahammad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Semen NOVIKOV (BUL)
Chengwu WANG (CHN)
Maimaiti KAISAIER (CHN)
Yi YANG (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Vjekoslav LUBURIC (CRO)
Matej MANDIC (CRO)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Waltteri LATVALA (FIN)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Istvan TAKACS (HUN)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Sunil KUMAR (IND)
SUSHANT (IND)
Hamidreza BADKAN (IRI)
Naser ALIZADEH (IRI)
Mirco MINGUZZI (ITA)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Masato SUMI (JPN)
Martynas NEMSEVICIUS (LTU)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Szymon SZYMONOWICZ (POL)
Zarko DICKOV (SRB)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Ali CENGIZ (TUR)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Alan VERA GARCIA (USA)
Nurbek KHASHIMBEKOV (UZB)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

97kg
Mawete KIANGEBENI (ANG)
Daniel GASTL (AUT)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Murat LOKIAYEV (AZE)
Zamir MAGOMEDOV (AZE)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Kiril MILOV (BUL)
Yan LIU (CHN)
Yiming LI (CHN)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Loic SAMEN (FRA)
Tamas LEVAI (HUN)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Vilius LAURINAITIS (LTU)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Felix BALDAUF (NOR)
Tadeusz MICHALIK (POL)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Nicu OJOG (ROU)
Mihail KAJAIA (SRB)
Luka KATIC (SRB)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Lucas SHERIDAN (USA)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB)

130kg
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Sabah SHARIATI (AZE)
Lingzhe MENG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Dariusz VITEK (HUN)
NAVEEN (IND)
Aliakbar YOUSOFI (IRI)
Amir GHASEMIMONJEZI (IRI)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Sota OKUMURA (JPN)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Romas FRIDRIKAS (LTU)
Oskar MARVIK (NOR)
Rafal KRAJEWSKI (POL)
Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU)
Delian ALISHAHI (SUI)
Tanner FARMER (USA)
Temurbek NASIMOV (UZB)

#WrestleTirana

Salkazanov Reclaims 74kg Gold for Fifth European Title

By Vinay Siwach

TIRANA, Albania (April 26) -- A smile beamed across Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV's (SVK) face as he stood atop the medal podium, receiving the gold medal after winning the 74kg title at the European Championships in Tirana, Albania.

Salkazanov won his fifth European title, regaining the crown after losing it to Chermen VALIEV (ALB) last year. Valiev, who is recovering from a knee surgery, was in the stands at the Feti Borova Olympic Park Arena as the Slovak wrestler returned to the top.

"It’s very satisfying to see that my hard work has paid off," Salkazanov said. "I’m particularly pleased today, because it’s been over two years since my country’s national anthem was played in my honor. So I’m glad that it worked out. That’s exactly why I was so happy on the podium."

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Salkazanov had a four-year golden run winning titles in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 before losing to Zaurbek SIDAKOV (UWW) last year. Sidakov would later lose to Valiev in the 74kg final.

Since neither of Sidakov or Valiev were entered, Salkazanov faced Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) in the final and in typical Salkazanov fashion bullied Bayramov with his defense. However, it was Bayramov who was put on the activity clock in the first period. Salkazanov went 1-0 up at the break.

In the second period, he scored two stepouts to extend his lead to 3-0 before Bayramov pushed the pace of the bout as he needed at least three points for a win. Bayramov's attack paid off in the final 10 seconds of the match when he scored a takedown to make it 3-2 but Salkazanov showed presence of mind and moved close to the edge of the mat to not give up any more points.

As time ran out, Bayramov thought he managed to score a point for Salkazanov's hand touching outside the zone. As it was not scored, he challenged only to see it lost and adding one more point to Salkazanov's score, making him a 4-2 winner.

Despite being a four-time champion before, Salkazanov said he was more confident this year and had not done anything to win the gold medal.

"I can’t say I’ve worked on anything in particular," he said. "The main thing is that I’ve gained more confidence over time, and perhaps a bit more experience."

Azerbaijan suffered another heartbreak on Sunday as world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE) dropped a close 86kg final to Ibragim KADIEV (UWW). The two did not score any action points and exchanged activity clock points.

Kadiev got the one point in the second period to hold a 1-1 criteria lead which he defended till the end. Dzhioev tried scoring a takedown in the final 10 seconds and almost got it but Kadiev was firm in his defense. Azerbaijan challenged asking for a point but Dzhioev neither had control over Kadiev nor he pushed him out.

The lost challenge added one point to Kadiev's score to give him a 2-1 win, making him the European champion at 86kg in his first attempt.

Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE)Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) defended his 125kg title in Tirana. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Azerbaijan Wins Team Title

Despite the two losses in Sunday's finals, Azerbaijan won the team title as it did in Greco-Roman on Wednesday. With three golds, a silver, one bronze and all but one wrestlers contributing to team points, Azerbaijan won the team title with 152 points. Georgia finished second with 94 points and Armenia was third with 73 points.

Azerbaijan also crowned two European champions on the final day of the European Championships as defending champion Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) retained his 125kg title while Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) won the 92kg gold medal.

Meshvildishvili, who had a close final last year, did not let Vladislav BAJCAJEV (HUN) challenge him this year. Bajcajev was put on the activity clock twice in the match and Meshvildishvili scored three go-behind takedowns to win the final 8-0.

Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) celebrates after beating Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) in the 92kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Tcokaev's gold medal at 92kg came at the expense of Ahmed BATAEV (BUL) after the two gave no space to each other. Bataev got on board first with a stepout despite the move being initiated by Tcokaev. However, the Bulgaria wrestler was put on the activity clock and Tcokaev scored a stepout before the clock expired, which gave him a 2-1 lead over Bataev.

Using the underhook, Tcokaev scored another stepout to start the second period, extending his lead to 3-1. His third stepout made it 4-1 despite Bataev's resistance. Just when it looked like that Tcokaev will have no trouble till the clock expires, Bataev managed to score a takedown in the final 15 seconds to cut the lead to 4-3.

However, Bataev could not find the match-winning point and his desperate challenge was lost as well, giving a 5-3 win to Tcokaev.

At 61kg, Zavur UGUEV (UWW) defended his 61kg gold medal with rather ease and became a two-time European champion. He defeated former world champion and home-favorite Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), 4-0, in the final.

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RESULTS

61kg
GOLD: Zavur UGUEV (UWW) df. Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB), 4-0

BRONZE: Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) df. Dzmitry SHAMELA (UWW), 7-3
BRONZE: Simone PIRODDU (ITA) df. Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE), via fall (11-8)

74kg
GOLD: Taimuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) df. Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE), 4-2

BRONZE: Timur BIZHOEV (UWW) df. Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN), 2-1
BRONZE: Farhad NOURIKHORJESTAN (UWW) df. Giorgi ELBAKIDZE (GEO), 10-8

86kg
GOLD: Ibragim KADIEV (UWW) df. Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 2-1

BRONZE: Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO) df. Osman GOCEN (TUR), 8-3
BRONZE: Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA) df. Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT), 7-2

92kg
GOLD: Ali TCOKAEV (AZE) df. Ahmed BATAEV (BUL), 5-3

BRONZE: Amanula GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (UWW) df. Fatih ALTUNBAS (TUR), 7-4
BRONZE: Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO) df. Samuel SCHERRER (SUI), 4-0

125kg
GOLD: Giorgi MESHVILDISHVILI (AZE) df. Vladislav BAJCAJEV (HUN), 8-0

BRONZE: Hakan BUYUKCINGIL (TUR) df. Khachatur KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 6-2
BRONZE: Mohsen SIYAR (GER) df. Azamat KHOSONOV (GRE), 2-1