Vladislav Baitcaev (in blue) and Giorgi Meshvildishvili of Azerbaijan in the final of the men’s freestyle wrestling European championship in the 125-kilogram weight class in Tirana
Vladislav Baitcaev won the silver medal in the 125-kilogram weight class at the European Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Tirana.
The athlete of North Ossetian origin, who has been competing for Hungary since 2022, first defeated Greece’s Azamat Khosonov on Saturday, then Magomedgadji Omardibirovich Nurov, competing for North Macedonia, and in the semifinals, the German Mohsen Mansour Siyar, originally from Iran, by a score of 4–3. On Sunday, the defending champion competed in his final match at the European Championships against Giorgi Meshvildishvili of Azerbaijan, which he lost 0–8.
For Baitcaev, who stood on the podium at a European Championship for the sixth time overall, this marked his first European Championship medal in the 125-kg class.
Vladislav Baitcaev Photo: MTI/Tibor Illyés
Another Hungarian wrestler (freestyle), Ismail Muszukajev, suffered an unexpectedly decisive defeat against Moldovan Alexandr Gaidarlit in Friday’s semifinal, but regained his form in the bronze medal match. The FTC world and European champion dominated Bulgarian wrestler Mikjaj Najm throughout the entire bout
and ended the match with a 10-0 victory by technical superiority.
The victory was also significant because Muszukajev had not always been able to reach his usual level since the Paris Olympics, and another mental challenge awaited him in Tirana following his defeat in the semifinals.
He successfully overcame this challenge and secured the third European Championship medal of his career.
The Hungarian delegation finished the European Championships with a total of six medals: in addition to Ismail Muszukajev and Vladislav Baitcaev, Alex Szőke (97 kg) and Dárius Vitek (130 kg) took second place in Greco-Roman wrestling, Zoltán Lévai (82 kg) and Róbert Fritsch (77 kg) took third place.
Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured image: MTI/Illyés Tibor
