Azerbaijan achieved historic results at the U17 Beach Wrestling World Championships, held at Sea Breeze in Baku on August 27, 2026. The girls’ team claimed its first world team title, while the boys finished runners-up.
The girls topped the team standings with 54 points, finishing one point ahead of the United States and two ahead of Japan. Rena Nuriyeva earned silver at 65 kg, while Simura Abdullayeva won bronze at 75 kg.
The boys collected two gold, two silver and two bronze medals, scoring 85 points. Iran finished with the same total but took first place on tie-breaking criteria, leaving Azerbaijan second.
Elcan Hasanov (60 kg) and Nihad Suleymanli (80 kg) became world champions. Alirza Heybatli (60 kg) and Elgun Karimli (90 kg) won silver, while Tunar Guliyev (70 kg) and Ruslan Valiyev (80 kg) earned bronze.
Led by head coach Oyan Nazariani and coach Ibrahim Yusubov, Azerbaijan completed the championships with eight medals: two gold, three silver and three bronze.
