National wrestlers in Top 10 of World Rankings
The United World Wrestling has released its 2016 yearend rankings for freestyle and Greco-Roman events, with several Azerbaijani wrestlers in Top 10 in their categories.
In the freestyle event, Toghrul Asgarov (65kg) and Khetag Gazyumov (97kg) ranked second in their categories, while Haji Aliyev, Jabrayil Hasanov and Sharif Sharifov are third in the 61kg, 74kg and 86kg classes respectively, Azertac reported.
Ahmadnabi Gvarzatilov and Jamaladdin Mahammadov are also in Top 10 in their respective categories.
Toghrul Asgarov is a World and European champion in freestyle wrestling. Asgarov captured a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Competing in the 96 kg weight category Khetag Gazyumov won bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2016 Rio Games.
Another freestyle wrestler Haji Aliyev competed at the 61 kg division in the 2014 European Wrestling Championships and won the gold medal after beating Bekkhan Goygereyev of Russia. Aliyev won the gold medal in the freestyle 61 kg class in the 2014 World Wrestling Championships.
In June 2015, Jabrayil Hasanov competed in the inaugural European Games, in Men's freestyle in the 74 kilogram range. He earned a bronze medal.
Sharif Sharifov finished first in the World Championship and won bronze in the European Championship. In 2012 Summer Olympics Sharif Sharifov won Olympic wrestling gold medal in 84-kilogram freestyle after defeating Puerto Rican Jaime Espinal.
As for Greco-Roman event, seven Azerbaijani wrestlers are in Top 10 in their categories.
Rasul Chunayev (66kg) and Hasan Aliyev (71kg) rank third, while Sabah Shariati is fourth in the 130kg class.
Rovshan Bayramov, Rafig Huseynov, Elvin Mursaliyev and Islam Abbasov are also in Top 10.
Becoming a member of the national team in 2006, Chunayev brought many victories to the sports history of the country. In 2008, the wrestler became European Champion. He won gold at the first European Games held in Baku this summer and became the first athlete to win gold while on active duty in the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
"Happy Dancer," as Chunayev is known in the American press, won gold in a single breath at the 2015 World Wrestling Championship in Las Vegas.
Hasan Aliyev is a World and European champion. He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the men's Greco-Roman 60 kg division.
Iranian-born naturalized Azerbaijani wrestler Sabah Shariati won bronze medal of Rio Olympics in presence of the bests of 130 kg Greco Roman style such as Lopez from Cuba and Riza Kayaalp from Turkey.
Rovshan Bayramov is a European and world champion in GrecoRoman wrestling. Moreover, he is a two-time Olympic silver medalist.
Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county 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 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, signifying the nation's most successful Olympic outcome in its independent history. Nine of these medals were distributed to the Azerbaijani team in wrestling, three in taekwondo for the first time, and two each in boxing, sprint canoeing, and judo.