European team title in beach wrestling with four medals

May 27, 2026

The U17 European Beach Wrestling Championships were held in Poreč, Croatia.

Four members of the Azerbaijani national team reached the podium at the continental championships.

60 kg

In Group A, Elcan Hasanov defeated fellow Azerbaijani Alirza Heybatli (2:1), Serbia’s Nikola Petrovic (3:0), and Greece’s Ioannis Kesidis (4:1). He then overcame Moldova’s Victor Vdovii (3:0) in the quarterfinals, Ukraine’s Denys Vytko (3:0) in the semifinals, and another Ukrainian wrestler, Kyrylo Nahirnyi (4:0), in the final to become European champion.

After losing to his teammate, Alirza Heybatli defeated Greece’s Ioannis Kesidis (4:1) and Serbia’s Nikola Petrovic (3:0), but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Georgia’s Tariel Saatashvili (1:3).

70 kg

In Group A, Rashad Aliyev defeated Serbia’s Andrej Rajacic (5:0), Moldova’s Pavel Mavrodin (3:1), and Romania’s Istvan Nagy (3:0). He then beat Ukraine’s Nazar Mudryi (3:0) in the quarterfinals and another Ukrainian wrestler, Mykyta Kuzmenko (3:1), in the semifinals. However, in the gold-medal match, he lost 0:4 to Georgia’s Ioane Skhiladze and finished with the silver medal.

80 kg

In Group B, Elvin Hajiquliyev defeated Moldovan wrestlers Laurentiu Drobota (3:0) and Maxim Deleu (3:0), as well as Georgia’s Saba Zoidze (3:0). He then advanced to the final by defeating Ukraine’s Vladyslav Martsevyi (4:0) in the semifinals.

In Group C, Ruslan Valiyev defeated Georgia’s Luka Maysuradze (3:0), Croatia’s Emanuel Grgic (3:0), and Ukraine’s Dmytro Holovenko (4:0) to secure a place in the final.

In the decisive bout, Ruslan defeated his teammate 3:0 to become European champion, while Elvin claimed the silver medal.

90 kg

In Group B, Tural Eynullayev defeated Georgia’s Saba Papashvili (3:2) and Ukraine’s Matvii Hryhorenko (3:0), but lost to Ukraine’s Artyom Zalvovskyi (0:3).

In Group C, Mohlat Gasimov defeated Greece’s Dimitrios Dermendzis (4:2) and Andreas Kteniadakis (3:0), but was beaten by Moldova’s Evgheni Dohotaru (0:4).

With a total of two gold and two silver medals, Azerbaijan won the European team title with 80 points. Although Georgia finished with the same number of points, the Azerbaijani team ranked higher thanks to the superior quality of its medals. Ukraine placed third with 64 points.