| Azerbaijan dominate |
LONDON Azerbaijan’s Sharif Sharifov won the Olympic men’s 84kg freestyle wrestling gold medal at London’s Excel Arena on Saturday, defeating Puerto Rico’s Jaime Espinal in the final.
Reigning world champion Sharifov’s victory meant the Azerbaijan anthem rang out at the Excel for the second time in a matter of minutes on Saturday after Toghrul Asgarov took the men’s 60kg freestyle title.
Espinal, the first Puerto Rican to reach an Olympic wrestling final, impressed during his run to the title match but was outclassed by Sharifov in the clash for gold. Bronze medals went to European champion Dato Marsagishvili of Georgia and Iran’s Ehsan Lashgari, the three-time Asian champion.
In the men’s 60kg freestyle wrestling, Asgarov defeated world champion Besik Kudukhov of Russia in the final. Bronze medals went to Coleman Scott of the United States and India’s Yogeshwar Dutt, the Asian champion.
Dutt beat Ri Jong-myong of North Korea 3-1.
Asgarov, who won this year’s European championships and last year’s world junior title, does not turn 20 until September.
But he dominated the final, winning the first period and then producing a pick-up and drive to take control of the second at the Excel to a 3-0 win.
Agencies
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