Our Beach Wrestling Team Wins 2 Gold and 1 Bronze Medal at the European Championship

May 28, 2025

Today, the European Beach Wrestling Championship for youth (U15, U17) was held in Poreč, Croatia.

Our U17 team, led by head coach Oyan Nazariani, represented Azerbaijan in the championship.

Competing in Group B, Rashid Nazarov (60 kg) achieved 3:0 victories against Croatian wrestlers Nikola Duric and Lovro Vidovic, as well as Ukrainian opponent Ilia Klimchuk. Advancing to the semifinals as the group leader, Nazarov faced Georgian Rati Beridze in a closely contested match but lost in the final seconds, 2:3. In the bronze medal bout, Nazarov once again faced Klimchuk and secured a decisive 3:0 victory, earning a place on the podium.

In the 70 kg category, Ruslan Valiyev dominated Group A with 3:0 wins over Greece’s Yiannis Apostol and Ukraine’s Ivan Zalisko. With Croatian Leon Kuzman forfeiting, Valiyev also claimed a technical victory. As the group leader, Ruslan advanced to the semifinals. Ayxan Guliyev, competing in the same weight category in Group C, lost his opening match to Georgia’s Luka Makharadze (1:3). However, he earned a technical win against Croatia’s Toma Jelenč and later defeated France’s Thomas Rebore (3:1). In the semifinals, the Azerbaijani teammates faced each other, with Ruslan defeating Ayxan 4:1. Guliyev missed the chance to win bronze, losing 0:4 to Bidzina Jintcharadze. Meanwhile, Valiyev clinched the European championship title with a 3:0 victory against Luka Makharadze in the final.

In the 80 kg category, Nihad Suleymanli began his campaign with a commanding 3:0 victory over Britain’s Marshal Everett, earning a spot in Group A. Nihad continued his dominance in the group stage, defeating Georgia’s Nuradin Mustafayev (3:1), Greece’s Panagiotis Kiparissopoulos, and Hungary’s Norbert Tapodi (both 3:0). As the group leader, he progressed to the semifinals, where he triumphed 3:0 against Georgia’s Zebur Abashidze. In the final, Suleymanli once again faced Mustafayev, denying his rival a chance for revenge with a 4:1 victory and securing the gold medal.

As a result, our team claimed 2 gold and 1 bronze medal at the European Championship. With this medal tally, Azerbaijan topped all countries in terms of medal quality. However, in the team standings, Azerbaijan finished third with 65 points, trailing behind Georgia (85) and Ukraine (70).

It is noteworthy that Sadi Guliyev, a Category I-S referee, officiated at the championship.