Gurgen Simonyan wins bronze at BAIKAL OPEN wrestling tournament

Armenian freestyle wrestler Gurgen Simonyan won a bronze medal at the international BAIKAL OPEN tournament held in Ulan-Ude.

Armenia was represented by two wrestlers at the 28th edition of the international tournament. The team’s only medal was claimed by 23-year-old Gurgen Simonyan, who competed in the 97 kg weight category.

On his way to bronze, Simonyan earned three victories. In the round of 16, the Armenian wrestler defeated Kalin Ool-Soruktu of Tuva 4:0, before beating Buryatia’s Roman Sanzheev 10:0 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Simonyan lost to Belarusian wrestler Aliaksandr Hushtyn, who later won the silver medal. In the bronze-medal bout, the Armenian representative produced a confident performance and defeated Chingiz Balzhimaev of Buryatia 11:0.

Another Armenian representative, Arman Musikyan, competed in the 65 kg weight category. In the round of 16, he had a close bout against Eduard Popov of Yakutia, but lost on criteria after a 2:2 draw and finished without a medal.

It should also be noted that Armenian wrestler Arsen Balayan, representing the Kaliningrad Region, won gold in the 86 kg weight category.

The BAIKAL OPEN tournament took place in Ulan-Ude on June 26-27. In the 97 kg weight category, Konstantin Pshenichnikov of the Kemerovo Region won gold, Aliaksandr Hushtyn of Belarus took silver, while Ivan Kirillov of the Kemerovo Region and Armenia’s Gurgen Simonyan claimed bronze medals.