BAHRAIN’S superstar grappler Akhmed Tazhudinov guaranteed himself at least a silver-medal finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 21-year-old survived an early scare in the men’s freestyle wrestling 97kg competition yesterday and booked his place in the final, which is scheduled to be held today.
Tazhudinov secured his chance to battle for the gold medal after staving off a late fightback by Kyle Snyder of the US to win their exciting last four match 6-4.
Tazhudinov is his weight division’s reigning world champion, and he will next lock horns with Givi Matcharashvili of Georgia in his bid to capture his maiden Olympic gold. Their head-to-head is set to be part of the concluding day’s programme of wrestling events today at Paris’ Champs-de-Mars Arena, which is set to start at noon, Bahrain time. Their contest will be the 12th on the schedule.
Tazhudinov’s place in the final ensures that Team Bahrain will be taking home another medal from Paris, which will be their first-ever in Olympic wrestling.
In his opening match yesterday in the round of 16, Tazhudinov kicked off his maiden Games appearance with a last-gasp victory over Amirali Azarpira of Iran, fighting back in the final 30 seconds to win 4-3.
After falling behind 0-2 in the first period and then 0-3 with just 90 seconds left in the second, Tazhudinov made a huge comeback to keep his medal ambitions alive. He had two takedowns in the final 30 seconds to come away with the stunning result.
Having shaken off any early jitters, Tazhudinov was in his usual dominant form in his quarter-final against Alisher Yergali of Kazakhstan. He went ahead 5-2 at the break and closed out to win by technical superiority, 14-2, to march forward to the semis.
Against Snyder, the American was the first to score a point in the opening period but Tazhudinov was able to get two back before the interval. He then stretched his lead to 6-1, scoring two points twice in quick succession midway through the second, and held on until time expired as Snyder tried to mount a final surge, narrowing the gap with three points just before the end.
Tazhudinov is only the second wrestler from Bahrain to ever compete at the Olympic Games, following in the footsteps of countryman Adam Batirov, who suited up for the national team at the Rio 2016 Games in Brazil.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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