The Bulgarian national team Ahmed Bataev failed to reach the awards of the world wrestling championship in Kazakhstan. The 2022 European vice-champion recorded one victory and one defeat in the 92 kg freestyle category, which ended his participation in the competition.
Bataev started with an extremely dramatic success against the Ukrainian Muhaman Aliyev. The Bulgarian showed character and managed to turn the tide of the fight in the final seconds to celebrate a 6:5 victory.
In the quarterfinals, however, the native representative encountered a serious obstacle in the face of the Iranian Amir Firuzpour. His opponent, a three-time Asian champion and bronze medalist at the World Championships last season, prevailed 7:4.
Firuzpour moved on and in the next round faced current world number one Trent Headline from the USA. The two had a hard-fought battle, but the American still came out on top 11:8. Thus, the Iranian's loss also ended Bataev's chances of continuing the fight for honors through the repechages.
Bulgaria ends the championship with a total of three medals. Semen Novikov won the world title in the 87 kg category, and Kiril Milov won bronze in the 97 kg classic style. Bilyana Dudova also climbed the podium after winning a bronze medal in the 62 kg category.
She narrowly missed out on the medals of Edmond Nazaryan and Stoyan Kubatov in classical wrestling, as well as Shamil Mamedov in freestyle. All three remained one step away from the podium.