The Greco-Roman wrestling competition at the U17 World Championships has concluded in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
The Kazakhstan team, led by Askhat Zhanbyrov, won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal. Diyar Amanali became a world champion, Ali Almas claimed silver, while Alinur Toleugali earned bronze. This result placed Kazakhstan fourth in the medal standings.
Top five in the medal standings:
Russia — 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals;
Iran — 2 gold and 2 bronze;
Ukraine — 1 gold and 2 silver;
Kazakhstan — 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze;
United States — 1 gold and 1 silver.
Diyar Amanali’s road to gold
Competing in the 55 kg weight category, Diyar Amanali opened his campaign with an 8–0 victory by technical superiority over Nikolaos Zinisas of Greece. He then defeated Russia’s Edem Payziev 3–1 before overcoming Giorgi Kedelidze of Georgia 2–1 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal, the Kazakh wrestler defeated Danimir Yordanov of Bulgaria 8–1. Diyar then faced Hungary’s Keve Kovacs in the final. The bout ended 1–1, with Diyar winning on criteria to become the U17 world champion.
Ali Almas’ road to silver
Competing at 48 kg, Ali Almas defeated Benedek Tombor of Hungary 9–0 in the round of 16. He then recorded an 8–0 victory by technical superiority over Abdyshukur Durusaliev of Kyrgyzstan in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal, Ali defeated Ararat Avetisyan of Armenia 4–1. In the gold-medal bout, he faced Soltan Yusupov of Russia. Ali lost the final 3–8 and claimed the silver medal at the World Championships.
Alinur Toleugali’s road to bronze
Competing in the 71 kg weight category, Alinur Toleugali lost his opening bout 3–6 to Aslan Dzuev of Russia. After Dzuev advanced to the final, the Kazakh wrestler earned a place in the repechage round.
Alinur first defeated Bogdan Talmachi of Moldova 9–0. He then faced Roman Ivaniuk of Ukraine in a closely contested bout that ended 2–2. Under UWW criteria, the victory was awarded to the Kazakh wrestler.
In the bronze-medal bout, Alinur defeated Iran’s Esmaeil Zaherdoust 11–3 to secure a place on the World Championships podium.
Kazakhstan’s U17 team therefore concluded the Greco-Roman wrestling competition in Baku with three medals: one gold, one silver and one bronze.
