Islam Bazarganov reaches the final of the European championships

April 24, 2026

The European Wrestling Championships continue in Tirana, the capital of Albania.

On the fifth day, freestyle wrestlers competing in the 57 kg, 65 kg, 70 kg, 79 kg, and 97 kg weight categories took to the mat.

Islam Bazarganov (57 kg) joined the competition from the quarterfinal stage. Our representative earned a confident victory over Belarusian Aryan Tiutrin (9:4) and advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinal, Islam gave no chance to Georgian Roberti Dingashvili (11:1) and qualified for the final of the senior European Championships for the first time in his career. Bazarganov will face Russian Musa Mekhtikhanov in the decisive match tomorrow.

Rashid Babazada (65 kg) eliminated German Niko Megerle (3:1) in his debut bout, but lost in the quarterfinals to Russian Bashir Magomedov by a score of 2:7. Babazada will wrestle Belgian Ayub Musayev in the repechage tomorrow.

Kenan Heybatov (70 kg) lost to Ukrainian Oleksiy Boruto in the quarterfinals by a score of 2:7.

Jabrayil Hajiyev (79 kg) defeated Slovakian European champion and World medalist Akhsarbek Gulaev in the quarterfinals by a score of 7:2. However, he lost in the semifinal to Belarusian Olympic and European medalist Magamedkhabib Kadimagomedov by a score of 1:5. Our wrestler will compete for third place tomorrow. His opponent will be the winner of the bout between Rasul Shapiyev (North Macedonia) and Tariel Gaprindashvili (Georgia).

Osman Nurmagomedov (97 kg) lost by the narrowest margin (2:3) in the opening round to Georgian Olympic and World medalist, three-time European champion Givi Matcharashvili.