Bilyana Dudova qualified for the semi-finals of the Olympic wrestling qualifications in Baku, and the other five Bulgarian national women were eliminated. The last tournament for the allocation of places for Paris 2024 will be held in Istanbul in May, BTA reports.
Dudova started from the quarterfinals and faced a very tough opponent - Johanna Lindborg, who defeated her at the European Championships in Bucharest in February. This time, the Bulgarian national made a clean fight, did not make a mistake and won with technical superiority at 9:0 against the Swede.
In the semifinals, Dudova will face the Frenchwoman Ameline Duarte, and only the winners of the two semifinals will earn quotas for participation in the Olympic Games this summer.
Miglena Selishka also started from the quarterfinals, where she lost 4:5 to Nadezhda Sokolova, competing with a neutral status. Mimi Hristova started at 68 kg against the Bulgarian Elise Manolova competing for Azerbaijan and beat her 4:2. In the next fight, Hristova got a big lead against Manola Skobelska at 8:0, but the Ukrainian extinguished her in the second part.
At 57 kg, Evelina Nikolova recorded her second consecutive victory of the year against the French Mathilde Riviere, but the Bulgarian lost in the quarterfinals against the German Sandra Parushevski. She lost 2:4 and will also wait for the final qualification in Istanbul to defend her Olympic medal.
Irena Binkova at 53 kg and Vanessa Georgieva at 76 kg also dropped out of the tournament.