Two Azerbaijani wrestlers crowned world champions

The beach wrestling season has officially come to an end.

Over the weekend, the final stage of the Beach Wrestling World Series was held in Alexandria, Egypt. Team Azerbaijan was represented by three wrestlers under the guidance of head coach Oyan Nazariani.

80 kg category

Sahib Dadashov defeated Egypt’s Adham Abdelzaher (4:1), while Vusal Aliyev overcame Georgia’s Diego Makharadze (3:2), earning both wrestlers a spot in the group stage.

Competing in Group A, Dadashov edged out Georgia’s Ramaz Zoidze (2:2) and Moldova’s Vasile Diaconu (1:1) based on the last-point criteria, before confidently defeating Serbia’s Miljan Rajic 3:0.

In Group B, Aliyev lost his opening bout to Ukraine’s Vasyl Mykhailov (1:3), but later claimed a technical victory against an injured French wrestler Hugo Cueno, and then beat Greece’s Christos Christoforidis 4:0.

Dadashov advanced to the semifinals as group leader, while Aliyev qualified in second place. The Azerbaijani duo met in the semifinal clash, where Aliyev triumphed 3:2 over his teammate.

Dadashov later defeated Zoidze 4:2 to secure the bronze medal, while Aliyev fell short in the final, losing 2:3 to Mykhailov and finishing with silver.

90 kg category

In Group A, Ibrahim Yusubov claimed victories over the USA’s Jacob Bumgardner (3:0), Greece’s Michail Akritidis (3:1), and Georgia’s Davit Khutsishvili (3:2), advancing to the semifinals as group leader.

There, he outclassed another American, Jabari Irons, with a 4:1 win. In the gold medal match, Yusubov defeated Ukraine’s Oleksii Yakovchuk 2:1 to become the champion.

After the final stage concluded, the total points from all five rounds of the World Series were calculated to determine the overall season rankings. As a result, Vusal Aliyev, who made his debut in beach wrestling this year, was crowned world champion in the 80 kg category, while Ibrahim Yusubov claimed the same title in the 90 kg class, becoming a four-time world champion.

It is worth noting that this marks the first time two Azerbaijani wrestlers have won world titles in the same season of the Beach Wrestling World Series.