Two Azerbaijani wrestlers reach World Championship finals

October 24, 2026

The World Wrestling Championships got underway today in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

On the opening day of the competition, the finalists in the Greco-Roman wrestling 55kg, 60kg, 77kg and 82kg weight classes were determined.

Four-time world champion Eldaniz Azizli (55 kg) entered the competition in the Round of 16. He advanced to the semifinals with dominant victories over Mongolia’s Davaabandi Munkh-Erdene (9-0) and Belarus’ Aliaksandr Hureu (8-0). Our experienced wrestler once again showed his class against last year’s world champion Vakhtang Lolua. Azizli defeated the Georgian 5-1 to reach the World Championship final for the fifth time. He will face Iran’s Payam Balootaki in tomorrow’s final.

Murad Mammadov (60 kg) defeated Türkiye’s Enes Basar 6-3 in the qualification round. He then advanced to the quarterfinals with a dominant 11-0 victory over Egypt’s Mahmoud Saada. However, he was defeated 4-1 by Kazakhstan’s world champion Aidos Sultangali in the quarterfinals.

Sanan Suleymanov (77 kg) made a successful return to the World Championships after a three-year absence. Wrestling calmly and confidently throughout the competition, our wrestler controlled the mat and defeated Japan’s Isami Horikita (8-0) and Chinese Taipei’s Lai Yao (9-0) by technical superiority in his first two bouts. He then defeated Uzbekistan’s Doniyorxon Nakibov 5-1 to advance to the semifinals. On his way to the final, Suleymanov overcame Iran’s Ali Oskouei 2-0 to reach the World Championship final for the third time. He will face Moldova’s Alexandrin Gutu in tomorrow’s final.

Gurban Gurbanov (82 kg) opened his campaign with an 8-0 victory over Serbia’s world champion Viktor Nemes, eliminating him from the competition. His quarterfinal bout against Kyrgyzstan’s two-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion Akzhol Makhmudov turned into a dramatic contest. Gurbanov surrendered the initiative in the final 30 seconds and suffered a narrow 7-6 defeat.