Las Vegas, 18 October. Kazakh freestyle wrestler Merey Bazarbayev won the under-23 world championship in Las Vegas in the 57 kg category, beating Turkey's Bekir Keser in the final (Kazinform, Airpress, Sports.kz).
Sports.kz reports an 8-0 score, while Airpress reports an early win: leading on points, Bazarbayev pinned his opponent (Sports.kz, Airpress). On the way to the final he beat American Luke Lilledahl 3-1, won early against France's Rasul Galburaev 13-2 and got the better of Japan's Daito Katsume in the semi-final (Kazinform, Airpress).
It is Kazakhstan's third gold at the tournament: Greco-Roman wrestlers Aibek Aitbekov (60 kg) and Yusuf Ashrapov (72 kg) had earlier become U23 world champions. Another Kazakh freestyle wrestler, Shattyk Alaidar (65 kg), lost his bronze-medal bout to Russia's Eldar Akhmadudinov (Airpress).
Background: The U23 world championship was held from 12 to 18 October at the Thomas & Mack Center of the University of Nevada (Airpress). Sports.kz reported Bazarbayev's progress to the final on 17 October (Sports.kz).
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