Turkish national wrestler Taha Akgül ranked third in the world
National wrestler Taha Akgül, competing in the 125 kg category at the World Wrestling Championships in Serbia, won the bronze medal by defeating Hungarian Daniel Ligeti 5-0. Akgül also won a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with this result.
At the ongoing World Wrestling Championships in Serbia, national wrestler Taha Akgül defeated Mexican Garcia 10-0 in the first match of 125 kg, Meshvildishvili from Azerbaijan 2-0 and Ukrainian Khotsianivskyi 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
Taha, who faced Iranian Amir Hossein Abbas Zare in the semifinals, lost 4-0 to his opponent and lost the final chance.
Our 32-year-old national wrestler took to the mat for a bronze medal and a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He took the first point against Hungarian Daniel Ligeti in the first seconds of the match (1-0). Taha, who got 3 more points by suppressing his opponent, made the score 5-0 with a whip on the ground. Although Hungarian wrestler Daniel Ligeti looked for points against Taha, he lost the first half 5-0. National wrestler Taha Akgül started the second half in control and did not give points to his opponent until the end of the match. Akgül, who won the match 5-0, became the athlete who won the Paris quota as the third in the world.
“I WILL TRY NOT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES IN PARIS”
Making statements to the press members after winning the bronze medal in the championship, Taha Akgül underlined that he came to the organization as the European Champion of the last 2 years, the last world champion, the undefeated wrestler of last year and the best wrestler in the world last year.
Reminding that he lost to his Iranian rival in the semi-finals, Taha Akgül continued his words as follows:
“It was his right, he fought better. I was very well prepared, I don’t think I did anything wrong. Maybe if I had better partners, if I worked with better opponents, I could have had a bigger advantage over my opponents. I think I lacked in this sense. I feel it when I play. I was awarded a bronze medal here. It was also an Olympic quota. It was a bitter joy. It was important to get an Olympic visa. We took an important step for Paris 2024 and now all our concentration will be on Paris. I will learn from this defeat and try not to make the same mistakes in Paris.”
Emphasizing that his career is slowly coming to an end but he is still at the top, Taha said:
“This is also a great success. My opponents are 23, 24 years old, I am 34 years old. I am wrestling with my experience. If I was 23 years old, this Taha Akgül would not be Taha Akgül, it would be different. They are in that excitement, that condition right now. But I fight for my country until the last drop of my blood. Believe me, I don’t need anything. I am the European, world and Olympic champion, but I sweat on the mats thinking that the more medals I win for my country, the better. I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support. My coach is with me, we are always together. My club, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, is the biggest club in amateur branches in Turkey. Thanks to our president, he supports us a lot. You, our press members, have come all the way here. I wish we could present you with a gold medal, but hopefully it will be in Paris.”
OTHER RESULTS IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
On the other hand, Soner Demirtaş, one of the national wrestlers at 74 kg, defeated his Armenian rival Hrayr Alikhanyan 3-0 in the third round and reached the quarterfinals. Soner lost to Turan Bayramov from Azerbaijan 5-4 in the quarterfinals.
Feyzullah Aktürk advanced to the quarterfinals at 92 kg after his Bulgarian opponent Akhmed Adamovich Magamaev withdrew from the match. Feyzullah Aktürk lost to his Kazakh opponent Rizabek Aitmukhan 11-0 in the quarterfinals.
Ramazan İshak Sarı, one of the national wrestlers at 79 kg, lost to his Iranian rival Mohammad Ashghar Nokhodilarim 9-4 in the second round.
In the 57 kg category, Süleyman Atlı lost to his German opponent Niklas Stechele 6-5 in the first round.
