WRESTLING – WORLD and Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov struck gold last night to spearhead a sensational title double for Bahrain in a top international wrestling competition in Budapest, Hungary.
Tazhudinov, highly considered as the best pound-for-pound freestyle wrestler, put in a string of dominant performances en route to capturing gold in the men’s 97kg division in the Polyak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial, also known as the Budapest Ranking Series.
Fellow-Bahraini Shamil Sharipov, meanwhile, bagged gold in the men’s 125kg category, capturing the kingdom’s impressive two-gold haul in the prestigious competition.
The meeting was 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 marked the final stop of this year’s schedule, which was a key event for wrestlers looking to earn a seed for the UWW Senior World Championship this September in Zagreb, Croatia.
Tazhudinov and Sharipov were competing in the meet’s freestyle wrestling competitions.
Tazhudinov was a force in his four matches to the gold yesterday, winning each contest by technical superiority. He secured his title with a resounding 11-0 triumph against Zbigniew Baranowski of Poland in their weight class’ final.
Earlier in the day, Tazhudinov opened his campaign beating Adlan Viskhanov of France 14-2 in the qualification round, during which he hit a big double-leg attack for four big points. The Bahraini superstar then needed just a minute to defeat Aliaksandr Hushtyn, registered under the UWW, 11-0 in the quarter-finals, and then took just under two minutes to take out Georgia’s Merab Suleimanishvili 10-0 in the semi-finals.
Tazhudinov’s stellar showing in Budapest made it two gold medals from two competitions since his return from a shoulder injury, which required surgery and kept him sidelined since last year’s Paris 2024 Olympics. The 22-year-old had also won gold earlier this month in the Grand Prix of Spain 2025, another UWW event held in Madrid.
Sharipov, meanwhile, came away with his Budapest title with a 5-3 points victory against Dzianis Khramiankou, who is also registered under the UWW.
In his earlier matches yesterday, Sharipov was straight in the last 16, where he claimed a victory by injury against Milan Andras Korcsog of Hungary. He then secured a 6-0 victory by points against another Hungarian opponent in Vladislav Bajcajev in the quarters, and then had a 5-1 victory by points in the final four against Alen Khubulov of Bulgaria.
Elsewhere in the Hungarian capital, Bahrainis Alibeg Alibegov and Khidir Saipudinov were also in action. Alibegov missed out on a medal after losing in the bronze medal stage of the men’s 65kg category, while Saipudinov bowed out of contention in the round of 16 of the men’s 79kg division.
Alibegov began his bid with a 6-4 victory by points against Ilyas Abdurashidov of Belgium in the last 16. He then beat Zoltan Mate Mizsei of Hungary, also on points, 6-2 to make it to the semi-finals. There, he went down fighting 2-9 against Ali Rahimzade of Azerbaijan. That led to his match against Georgia’s Goderdzi Dzebisashvili for a place on the podium, but could not come up with the win.
Saipudinov lost against Levi David Haines of the US 5-10 on points for his exit at the round-of-16 stage.
The freestyle wrestling competition continues today in Budapest, with two more Bahraini wrestlers in action. Magomedrasul Asluev is set to go for gold in the men’s 74kg division, while Magomed Sharipov will be hitting the mat in the men’s 92kg.
Bahrain’s delegation in Budapest is headed by Bahrain Wrestling Federation board member Kamal Jamal Kamal, and it includes BWF technical director and coach Eldar Eldarov.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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