Bronze medals for Georgia on Wrestling World Championships day 1

Two athletes of Georgia’s national wrestling team collected bronze medals at the World Championships in Paris to kick-start the country’s participation in the tournament on Monday.

Revaz Nadareishvili and Robert Kobliashvili found their spot on the podium at the event on the first day of competition in the Greco-Roman discipline.

Nadareishvili claimed his 98kg category medal by defeating Uzbekistan’s Rustam Assakalov 3-1.

Robert Kobliashvili (far right) on the 85kg podium. Photo: United World Wrestling.

The Georgian reached the fixture after losing to Armenia’s Artur Aleksanyan 6-2 in the quarterfinal but then taking advantage of the repechage round and defeating Seyedmostafa Salehizadeh of Iran.

Kobliashvili found himself unable to progress past Turkey’s Metehan Basar in the 85kg category and conceded the match with a final score 4-1.

He also claimed a win through the repechage round against Bulgaria’s Nikolay Bayryakov with a score 2-1, before claiming a technical victory in the match for bronze as his opponent Davit Chakvetadze, competing for Russia, forfeited the match due to injury.

Nadareishvili (far right) shares his podum with 98kg category medal-winners. Photo: United World Wrestling.

Two more Georgian athletes competed at the tournament on Monday, with Mindia Tsulukidze (75kg) winning three consecutive encounters before conceding the quarterfinal and taking seventh position.

Rio Summer Olympic Games bronze-winner Shmagi Bolkvadze suffered a 2-3 defeat in his first fixture at the competition against Iran’s Mohammadali Geraei and was unable to progress through the rounds.

Four more competitors from Georgia, including European Champion Zurab Datunashvili, will go on the mat today in 59kg, 66kg, 80kg and 130kg weight categories today.