Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijani wrestler Sanan Suleymanov (77 kg) won gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling on February 11 at the 2020 European Wrestling Championships held in Rome.

In the struggle for the European gold, Suleymanov outdid his rival from Hungary Zotlan Levai (3-1).

Road to the final for Suleymanov began in the qualification round, where he faced and defeated Bulgarian Aik Mnatsakanian (5-3).

At the next stage, he didn’t leave any chance for Matteo Maffezzoli from Italy (7-0).

In the quarterfinal, Suleymanov in a difficult fight was stronger than Georgios Prevolarakis from Greece (8-4).

In the semifinal, Suleymanov didn’t face any difficulty in winning a victory over Karapet Chalyan from Armenia (3-0).

Commenting on the victory at the European Wrestling Championship, he said: "In the final, I did not feel excitement. Fortunately, I managed to show my skills on the carpet and raised our flag."

The 2020 European Wrestling Championships currently held in Rome, Italy between February 10 and 16.

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in Azerbaijan and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.

The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of the only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive Games. Azerbaijan left Rio de Janeiro with a total of 18 medals. Nine of these medals were gained by the national wrestling team.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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