2024-03-07 02:05:59
Serious Bulgarian participation is coming in the 61st edition of the “Dan Kolov – Nikola Petrov” wrestling tournament, which starts tomorrow, March 7 and will continue until Sunday, March 10. The fights are in the capital hall “Asics Arena”.
23 Bulgarian competitors will compete in the freestyle on the mat. Among them are Miroslav Kirov (74 kg), European vice-champion from 2021, Ramazan Ramazanov, also European vice-champion and third in the world, who will argue for the medals in the category up to 74 kg, which is higher for him. Last season, the Dagestani with our passport became the winner of the “Dan Kolov” gold belt.
In the heavy category up to 125 kg, Georgi Ivanov, European champion under 23 years old, was declared.
Our younger competitors will also take part in the tournament – Kaloyan Atanasov (70 kg), European champion for cadets from 2022, Ivan Stoyanov (70), third at Euro 2022 to 23, as well as his brother Radomir Stoyanov ( 79), third at Euro 2022 under 20.
In the classics, Semen Novikov, the only one with an Olympic quota for Bulgaria, will appear on the mat. He will argue for the honors in his category up to 87 kg, in which he won bronze at the world championships in September in Begrad. Last year, Novikov became the champion of the tournament and belted the “Nikola Petrov” gold belt.
Stoyan Kubatov, fifth at the World Championships Belgrade 2023, will also start in the heavier weight category up to 77 kg. The nationals David Dimitrov and Ivo Iliev (72), Rosian Dermanski (82), Ioan Dimitrov (87) will also participate in the competition. Grisha Nazaryan (63), the youngest son of two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazaryan, will make his debut at a similar forum. In February, the 19-year-old talent became the first among juniors at a tournament in France.
There will be 21 Bulgarian competitors in the classics.
In the women’s category, both of our Olympic medalists will take to the mat – Evelina Nikolova, who will compete in the category up to 59 kg, which is higher for her, as well as Taibe Yusein. The captain of the national team will appear in the 62-kilogram category, where Bilyana Dudova, No. 1 in the world and 4-time European champion, will also start. The two are arguing for a starting place in the category for the upcoming Olympic qualifications.
In the 68-kilogram category, the favorites for honors are Yuliana Yaneva, European champion from 2023, and Sofia Georgieva, third at the European Olympic Games. The two are also arguing for a title position in the category.
In the women’s category, 19 Bulgarian representatives will compete.
Some of the top athletes will miss the scrimmages as they prepare for the Olympic qualifiers, which are in the months of April and May.
Nearly 200 competitors from 23 countries will take part in the tournament – Iran, France, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kosovo, Latvia, North Macedonia, Malta, Philippines, Romania, Russia (AIN), Serbia, Tunisia, Ukraine, USA, Algeria, Austria, China, Ecuador, Egypt and Bulgaria.
At the same time, the prestigious tournament “Yashar Dogu” is held in Turkey, so the representatives of our southern neighbor will miss the Bulgarian competition.
Among the foreign wrestlers, however, there are prize winners of major championships.
Stevan Micic (Serbia, 61 kg), current freestyle world champion who previously fought for the USA, Katerina Zelenich (Romania, 65 kg), European vice-champion, Gergana Mirka (Romania, 57 kg) will take to the mat in Sofia. , also second in Europe, Ekaterina Poleshchuk (Russia), third at the European in 2021 and first at the World Cup in 2020. In the composition of Kazakhstan in the classics are Marlan Muskaev (55 kg), fifth at the world championship, Olzas Sultan (60 kg), third at the world under-23, Meirzakhan Shermakhanbet (67), champion of the Asian Games.
In the composition of the USA is the two-time world vice-champion under 23 Damond Gilford (76 kg). Paolin-Denis Lecarpentier (France), fifth at the last European Championship, will enter the same category. The French team also includes Amery Dor (62 kg), second at the European under-23 competition, as well as Tatyana Debin (53 kg), third at the European under-23 competition. And in the men’s classic style, Mamadasa Silla will compete in the 67-kilogram category , fifth since the last European Championship.
The representative of Egypt, Mohamed Hassan, will compete in both freestyle and classical style, respectively in the 61 kg and 63 kg categories.
The draw for the first categories will be made later today.
The fights start at 10.30 am on Thursday. The semi-finals are from 5:30 p.m.
Entry for spectators is free.