Four Bronze Medal Hopes at the World Championships

July 28, 2025

The U17 World Wrestling Championships have officially started in Athens, the capital of Greece.

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

In the 48 kg division, Gurban Majnunov was defeated in his debut match by Kazakhstan’s Nurdaulet Kumaruly, 0-10.

In the 55 kg class, Nihat Bahmanov overcame Armenia’s Merujan Mkrtchyan (5-1) and Romania’s Patrik Croitoru (3-1) to reach the quarterfinals. However, his progress was halted by Kazakhstan’s Nurali Askar, who beat him 2-0.

In the 65 kg category, Huseyn Isgandarov narrowly edged past the Netherlands’ Mate Van Os with a 5-4 win in the first round, but fell 1-9 to Armenia’s Janes Nazaryan in the round of 16.

At 80 kg, Nijat Yeylagaliyev delivered dominant victories over Greece’s Stefanos Konstantinos (8-0) and Kazakhstan’s Mardanbek Makhkambayev (13-5), both by technical superiority. However, he lost by fall in the quarterfinals to Georgia’s Luka Martiashvili.

In the 110 kg division, Rihad Ibrahimli suffered a 0-10 defeat to Uzbekistan’s Sayidamir Nematov in the qualification round.

Since their opponents advanced to the finals, Majnunov, Bahmanov, Isgandarov, and Yeylagaliyev will compete in the repechage rounds tomorrow for a chance to fight for bronze.