Azerbaijani Freestyle Wrestlers Start Their Run At European Championships

Azerbaijan's freestyle wrestling team has begun its competition at the 2026 European Championships in Tirana, the capital of Albania, AzerNEWS reports.

Rashid Babazade (65 kg) and Osman Nurmagomedov (97 kg) will start their competition from the qualification round, while Islam Bazarqanov (57 kg), Kenan Heybatov (70 kg), and Jabrayil Hajiyev (79 kg) will begin from the quarterfinal stage.

On April 24, Azerbaijan's women wrestlers Jalal Aliyeva (57 kg), Ruzanna Mammadova (62 kg), and Birgul Soltanova (65 kg) will also compete in bronze medal matches.

So far, in Greco-Roman wrestling, Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg) and Gurban Gurbanov (82 kg) have become European champions, while Nihat Mammadli (60 kg), Rashad Mammadov (55 kg), and Islam Abbasov (87 kg) have won bronze medals.

In women's wrestling, Gunay Gurbanova (59 kg) has taken third place in Europe.

Azerbaijan is represented by 25 wrestlers at the 2026 European Wrestling Championships.

Over 400 wrestlers are competing at the 2026 European Wrestling Championships.

Some 30 gold medals are on the line across Freestyle, Women's Wrestling, and Greco-Roman events.

The 2026 European Wrestling Championships will run until April 26.

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