WRESTLING – WORLD and Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov headlined a five-medal haul – including four gold medals – for Bahrain’s senior men’s wrestling national team in the Grand Prix of Spain last night.
Tazhudinov marked his return to competition following nearly a year-long recovery from injury by securing first place in the men’s 97kg division of the United World Wrestling (UWW) event, which wrapped up in the city of Madrid.
Tazhudinov was joined as champions from the freestyle wrestling programme by fellow-Bahrainis Shamil Sharipov in the men’s 125kg division, Khidir Saipudinov in the men’s 79kg, and Magomedrasul Asluev in the men’s 74kg category.
The national team’s fifth medal was a bronze, claimed by Alibeg Alibegov in the men’s 65kg division.
The kingdom’s delegation in Madrid was headed by Bahrain Wrestling Federation (BWF) vice-president Kamal Jamal Kamal and included legendary wrestling coach Shamil Omarov. Bahrain’s wrestlers geared up for their participation with a training camp in Russia, supervised and attended by BWF president Abdulredha Haji.
Tazhudinov’s participation in Spain was his first competitive appearance on the mat since recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered last year, en route to striking gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
He secured his title yesterday with a victory by pinfall against Ertugrul Agca of Germany in the men’s 97kg final. He ended the match with more than three minutes still remaining on the clock and while enjoying a 6-0 lead.
Earlier in his division yesterday, Tazhudinov defeated Nishan Randhawa of Canada in a 13-2 technical fall in their semi-final duel, after previously outclassing Khamzat Tsurov of Kazakhstan 10-0 in the quarters.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 125kg category, Sharipov took his gold after beating Jorawar Dhinsa of Canada by technical fall, 11-0. In his other matches in the preceding rounds, Sharipov outclassed Roger Li of Canada 9-0 in the semis, Dhinsa 10-0 in their first meeting during the third round, and Milan Gellen of Italy 7-0 in the second round.
Saipudinov secured his title in the men’s 79kg division following an 11-0 technical fall victory against Gregor Eigenbrodt of Germany. Saipudinov was dominant in all three of his other matches leading up to the final.
He beat Lucas Kahnt of Germany 10-0 in the semis, overcame Mohammad Mottaghinia of Spain with a similar 10-0 result in the quarters, and outclassed Myrzabek Nurlybekov of Kazakhstan 12-2 in the round of 16.
In the men’s 74kg division, Asluev emerged as champion with a 9-1 win against Tanner Peak of Puerto Rico in the final. In the semi-finals, he beat Nariman Kengali of Kazakhstan 10-1, which followed a 10-0 triumph against Nico Zarb of Poland in the third round. In his opening contest, Asluev defeated Pablo Diez Pardo of Spain 10-0.
Elsewhere in Madrid yesterday, Alibegov secured his men’s 65kg bronze medal after battling hard against Carlos Alvarez Iglesias of Spain in a 9-6 win in their repechage match. Alibegov previously lost to Victor Parra of Venezuela 0-6 in the quarter-finals.
Bahrain had a sixth grappler competing in Madrid yesterday in Magomed Sharipov, who was contesting the men’s 92kg category. He lost both his matches.
The Grand Prix of Spain was one of the major UWW meetings leading up to this year’s UWW Senior World Championships, set to take place in Zagreb, Croatia, this September.
Bahrain’s wrestlers are expected to be next in action in the Budapest Ranking Series in Hungary, another UWW event, scheduled for July 17 to 20.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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