Omar and Gurban reach the European Championship final

May 11, 2026

The U17 European Wrestling Championships have kicked off in Samokov, Bulgaria.

On the opening day of competition, the finalists in Greco-Roman wrestling were determined in the 48 kg, 55 kg, 65 kg, 80 kg, and 110 kg weight categories.

Omar Salmanov (48 kg) advanced to the final after defeating Türkiye’s Shamil Shahan (8-1), the Czech Republic’s Simon Sritr (8-0), and Hungary’s Benedek Tombor (9-0). Our compatriot will face Russia’s Artyom Tkachenko in tomorrow’s decisive final bout.

Gurban Majnunov (55 kg) booked his place in the final by overcoming Poland’s Jakub Skrzypczak (9-0), Georgia’s Giorgi Kedelidze (5-3), Ukraine’s Rakhman Gamidov (11-2), and Norway’s Abu Bakar Saga (9-0). In tomorrow’s championship match, our wrestler will take on Russia’s Edem Payziyev.

Orkhan Habibli (65 kg) eliminated Bulgaria’s Antoan Tsvetanov (7-1), but lost to Russia’s Aslan Dzuev by a score of 4-8 in the quarterfinals. Since his opponent advanced to the final, the Azerbaijani wrestler will compete in the repechage tomorrow. His opponent will be the winner of the bout between Greece’s Dionisios Bulutidis and Romania’s Gabriel Lungu.

Zaka Yusubov (80 kg) defeated Romania’s Robert Cuciureanu (8-0) and Russia’s Yegor Kuropiatnikov (7-6) before narrowly losing to Ukraine’s Danyil Melnychuk in the quarterfinals by a score of 3-4.

Mahammad Mustafayev (110 kg) was unable to put up resistance against Ukraine’s Maksym Sokoliuk in his debut match, losing 0-9.