BELGRADE, Serbia (November 3) – As a kid, Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) imagined becoming a world champion for Azerbaijan like many greats from the country. But growing up in a small district of Goranboy, Azerbaijan, it was difficult to find heroes to look up to. But he still followed his elder brother to the wrestling gym and slowly fell in love with the sport.
A decade after he first stepped into a wrestling gym, Jafarov has not only fulfilled the dream of winning a world title, he has won two in three months.
The 19-year-old stunned the field at 67kg weight class at the U23 World Championships, adding to his junior world title which he won in August in Ufa, Russia.
The Azerbaijan wrestler continues to improve at a rapid pace. That was visible in Belgrade, Serbia, where he defeated Asian champion Sultan ASSETULY (KAZ), U23 European silver Kadir KAMAL (TUR) and junior Asian champion Mohammad REZAEI (IRI) en route the gold.
“I am glad that I became a world champion for the second time,” Jafarov said. “I’ll train even better to achieve good results in the senior age group.”
Russia won the Greco-Roman team title, thanks to the two gold medals on Wednesday, which propelled them to 190 points. Iran finished second with 155 points, while Georgia ended up on the podium in third place with 105 points.
Jafarov, who turned 19-years-old on October 5, outscored Rezaei by scoring the match deciding two-point correct throw in the second period and holding onto the one-point win.
But even with his loss in the 67kg, Rezaei’s 20-point second-place finish helped Iran (135 points) regain the five-point lead over Russia (130 points) after the night’s first two weight classes.
Despite his win, the Azerbaijan youngster, who hails from a small village of Goranboy district, realized that moving forward, his opponents will study him more and find new ways to stop him from winning.
“Each medal brings more responsibility,” he said. “My opponents know my par terre techniques, my standing position wrestling style. I will try to improve in the future so that it’s not that tough for me to win.”
In other action, Iran narrowly led Russia by five points coming into the 60kg final, but Anvar ALLAKHIAROV (RUS) knotted up the team score at 115 points after he used a seven-point second period to ease his way past Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD (IRI).
Allakhiarov fell behind 1-0 after the opening four minutes but never showed signs of panic. Instead, he remained poised in the second period and capitalized on his opportunity to put points on the board.
The Russian wrestler came out front with a back-breaking four-point lift after his Iranian opponent was hit for inactivity and gained the 5-1 advantage. He kept the action flowing and picked up two more points with an overhook throw that resulted in an exposure.
Allakhiarov ultimately held on to win 7-1 and handed Russia their third Greco-Roman gold medal of the ’21 U23 World Championships.
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