Kazakh freestyle wrestler Nurasyl Asambek (57 kg) clinched a bronze medal on the penultimate day of the U23 World Wrestling Championships in Bratislava, reports infohub.kz.
En route to the podium, Asambek secured several confident victories. In his opening bout, he defeated Ukrainian Abbas Huseynov 4-2, followed by a win over Frenchman Gaspard Camille Cheynua 11-0. In the quarterfinals, the Kazakh lost to American Michael Cortez 0-6, but in the repechage he bounced back with a 10-5 victory over Chinese wrestler Chentao Wang. In the bronze medal match, Asambek convincingly beat Uzbek Ulugbek Rashidov 13-6.
Another Kazakh, Beibarys Yergali (92 kg), also contended for a medal but ultimately finished fourth. He started with a win over Swiss Jacek Fudalej 9-2, then edged Ukrainian Yehor Horokh 3-3 on a split decision. However, in the semifinals Yergali lost to Georgian Sandro Kurashvili 1-6, and in the third-place bout he fell to American James Merle Mastny 2-3.
Yeraly Askerbek (65 kg) and Aibek Kaliakhmet (79 kg), having lost in earlier rounds, did not compete for medals that day.
Heading into the final day, Kazakhstan's team has four medals. Gold was won by Greco-Roman wrestler Kyzybek Kalmagambetov in the 67 kg category, silver by freestyle wrestler Bekasyl Asambek (61 kg), and bronze by Uldana Tileukhan (68 kg) and Nurasyl Asambek.
The world championship, held under the auspices of the International Wrestling Federation (UWW) and concluding in the Slovak capital, features 700 young athletes competing for 120 sets of medals in three wrestling styles: Greco-Roman, freestyle, and women's wrestling.
Kazakhstan is represented in Bratislava by 30 athletes – 20 men and 10 women. The tournament ends on August 23.