WRESTLING – BAHRAIN’S world and Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov is set to spearhead the kingdom’s wrestling national team in a top international competition in Budapest, Hungary.
The nationals are set to be amongst nearly 500 grapplers from around the world who will be competing in the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial, also known as the Budapest Ranking Series, which gets underway tomorrow.
Six of Bahrain’s top senior men’s wrestlers will be competing in the freestyle wrestling programme, while Greco Roman wrestling and women’s wrestling will also be held.
The meeting is part of United World Wrestling’s (UWW) Ranking Series, which features competitions held worldwide supervised by the UWW where athletes earn points to establish their world ranking. Budapest marks the final stop of this year’s series, which is key for wrestlers looking to earn a seed for the UWW Senior World Championship this September in Zagreb, Croatia.
Tazhudinov will be hitting the mat in the men’s 97kg category. He is fresh from winning a gold medal at the Grand Prix of Spain 2025 in Madrid earlier this month, and is once again a favourite to come away with his division’s title.
His Spanish foray was Tazhudinov’s first competition since the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he suffered a shoulder injury and has since been recovering.
Joining Tazhudinov in Budapest are Alibeg Alibegov in the men’s 65kg category, Magomedrasul Asluev in the men’s 74kg, Khidir Saipudinov in the men’s 79kg, Magomed Sharipov in the men’s 92kg, and Shamil Sharipov in the men’s 125kg division.
Asluev, Saipudinov, and Shamil Sharipov all also came away from Madrid with gold medals, while Alibegov secured a bronze to complete the Bahrainis’ five-medal haul.
The freestyle wrestling events will be taking place tomorrow.
In preparation for their participation, the national team conducted a training camp in Russia, attended and supervised by Bahrain Wrestling Federation (BWF) president Abdulredha Haji. He praised the unwavering support of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority (GSA) chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa for combat sports, especially wrestling.
Haji also commended the continuous follow-up of GSA deputy chairman and Bahrain Combat Sports Council president Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, which contributes to raising the level and performance of the kingdom’s grapplers and pushes them to achieve success in various events worldwide.
Haji stressed on the importance of the upcoming competition in Hungary, as it will also help Bahrain’s wrestlers earn a qualification card for the freestyle wrestling competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The nationals’ delegation in Budapest is headed by BWF board member Kamal Jamal Kamal, and it includes BWF technical director and coach Eldar Eldarov.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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