Kazakh Greco-Roman wrestler Kazybek Kalmagambetov won the gold medal at the U20 World Championships in Bratislava. In the final bout, he defeated Belarusian Mikhail Markovsky with a score of 13:7, reports the website infohub.kz.
Kalmagambetov's path to the final began with a confident victory over German Sebastian Wagner (9:0). Then, by judges' decision, he overcame American Emrin Brian Nutter (1:1). In the quarterfinals, the Kazakh passed Egyptian Mohamed Hassan Ahmed Mohamed Abdelrehim (4:1), and in the semifinals he defeated Hungarian Petro Zhitovoz with a score of 7:5. This is the first medal for the Kazakh team at the tournament, and it's gold!
Another team member, Marlan Bakaev (up to 72 kg), failed to reach the consolation bouts for bronze. Yerassyl Musan (55 kg) and Maxim Ukraintsev (97 kg), having lost in the early stages, also did not qualify for medal contention.
Earlier, Yerkebulan Anapiya (77 kg) lost the bronze medal bout to Iranian Amir Mahdi Mohammad Saeedi Nave with a score of 3:5.
The world championship under the auspices of the International Wrestling Federation (UWW), which started in the Slovak capital, features about 700 young athletes from around the world. They will compete for 120 medals in three wrestling styles: Greco-Roman, freestyle, and women's wrestling.
Kazakhstan is represented in Bratislava by 30 athletes – 20 boys and 10 girls. The tournament will conclude on August 23.