Turkish wrestler Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu made history Thursday as she became a world champion in the women’s 68kg category.
Çavuşoğlu clinched the gold medal at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, after defeating Delgermaa Enkhsaikhan from Mongolia.
She secured victory with a pin, earning her first-ever world championship title. She had previously won two bronze medals at world championships.
Çavuşoğlu thus became the first Turkish female wrestler to win a world championship title after Yasemin Adar Yiğit, who clinched the gold medal in the 76kg category two times, in 2017 and 2022.
Çavuşoğlu’s path to the gold medal included victories over Moldova’s Irina Ringaci and Mexico’s Alejandra Rivera Arriaga, both by pins.
In the quarterfinals, she defeated Czech wrestler Adela Hanzlickova with a score of 8-0.
In the semifinals, she earned a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics by defeating Japanese wrestler Ami Ishii.
Meanwhile, Evin Demirhan Yavuz earned a second Olympics quota for Türkiye although she lost the bronze medal match in the women’s 50kg category.
Yavuz won the Olympics qualification match against Colombian wrestler Alisson Cardozo, thus finishing in the top five.
In the team standings for women, Japan led the way with six world champions out of ten weight categories, amassing a total of 195 points. The United States secured second place with 135 points, and Mongolia followed in third place with 80 points.
In the men’s freestyle category, Türkiye won two bronze medals and two Olympic quotas.
Kayaalp aims for 6th title
Türkiye’s Rıza Kayaalp will face Iran’s Amin Mirzazadeh on Friday in a battle for the gold medal in the Greco-Roman style 130kg category.
Kayaalp advanced to the final after defeating China’s Lingzhe Meng on Thursday.
Kayaalp’s victory also secured a quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics. If he wins the final, it will be his sixth world championship title.
With one silver and two bronze medals from previous Olympics, Kayaalp is determined to complete his career with an Olympic gold in Paris next year.
Having competed in the Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, he aims to become the first Turkish wrestler to participate in the Olympics for the fifth time.
Source: Daily Sabah
