Rashid Babazada: “I stepped onto the mat with confidence”

February 27, 2026

The freestyle wrestling competitions at the “Muhamet Malo” tournament, held in Tirana, the capital of Albania, have concluded.

Our national team won 1 silver and 3 bronze medals at the ranking tournament. Rashid Babazada, who secured the silver medal in the competition, commented on his performance as follows:

“It was my first time participating in a ranking tournament. I don’t have much experience at the senior level. Nevertheless, I came to this competition with confidence. The tournament was very strong. Some of the world’s best wrestlers took part in it. In the semifinals, I faced Vitaly Orujov, an American wrestler of Azerbaijani origin who was in my group. I won with a score of 18–15. I executed the decisive move with just a few seconds remaining.
My opponent in the final was a very strong athlete. Despite that, I stepped onto the mat with confidence. However, for certain reasons I couldn’t show my wrestling. Because of both my injured rib and my lack of sufficient experience, I couldn’t achieve the result I wanted in the match. God willing, I need to work on these mistakes so that I can be fully prepared for the upcoming European Wrestling Championships.”