The Tajikistan national wrestling team is completing the final stage of preparation for the main start of the season – the World Championship, which will be held from September 13 to 21 in Zagreb (Croatia).
The tournament will bring together about 900 athletes from more than 60 countries who will compete for 30 sets of medals in three styles: freestyle, Greco–Roman and women's wrestling. This was reported to Asia–Plus by the Wrestling Federation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
The world championship program will be opened by the freestyle wrestling competitions, then the women will enter the carpet, and the classics championship will end. There are 326 athletes from 56 countries competing in freestyle wrestling, which promises an incredibly high level of competition. According to the United World of Wrestling (UWW), 13 medalists of the Paris Olympics, including three current Olympic champions, will arrive in Zagreb.
The Tajik team consists of both leading local wrestlers and legionnaires from the Yakut wrestling school, who successfully represent our country on the international stage.
Viktor Rassadin, a two-time silver medalist at the Asian Championships, World Cup winner, and Olympic participant, is considered one of the team's favorites. This season, the athlete made a tactical move, changing the weight category from 74 kg to 70 kg, where 28 participants were announced. Rassadin has conducted a series of intensive training camps and intends to compete for a medal.
In the 57 kg category, Tajikistan will be represented by Ayaal Belolyubsky, the national champion and winner of the ranking tournament in Albania. There are 34 athletes in his weight class, including world ranking leaders, which makes the task difficult but possible.
No less high expectations are associated with other wrestlers who will enter the World Cup carpet. For them, Zagreb will be an important test before future starts, including the continental championships and qualifying tournaments for the 2028 Olympics. So, among the wrestlers in the weight of 65 kg, another legionnaire of the Tajik national team, Abdulmajid Kudiev, will compete. And in the 79 kg category – legionnaire Magomed Yevloev. Eduard Babenoshev was declared among the "classics" in the weight of 97 kg.
The performance in Zagreb is of strategic importance for the Tajik struggle. In addition to medals, athletes at the World Championships will earn points in the UWW rating, which affects the allocation of quotas for participation in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Each match you win will earn you the points you need to reach the world level.
