site.btaUPDATED Aik Mnatsakanian Loses in Eighth-Final of Olympic Wrestling Tournament

Bulgarian wrestler Aik Mnatsakanian (77kg) lost in the eighth-final of the Olympic classic wrestling tournament in Paris.

Mnatsakanian suffered a 0:2 defeat to the number two ranked European champion from Rome 2020 and vice-champion from the last two World Championships Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan).

The 28-year-old Mnatsakanian, who was born in Georgia, is competing in his second Olympics after finishing 12th in his Tokyo 2020 debut. He was a bronze medallist at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest and Astana 2019, but in the under-72kg category, and his last major achievement at 77kg was a bronze at Euro 2022 in Budapest. 

The 27-year-old Suleymanov is making his Olympic debut. Curiously, both wrestlers were born in Georgia but represent other countries.

Later, it transpired that Mnatsakanian is keeping his chances of qualifying for the bronze medal repechage, as Suleymanov qualified for the semi-finals with a 1-1 draw over Hungary's Zoltan Levai by the rule of last point scored.

Thus, for a place in the final, Suleymanov will face Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) Tuesday evening. With another win, he will play for the Olympic title and with that he will draw Mnatsakanian in Wednesday's bronze medal repechage.

Mnatsakanian is the second Bulgarian national to take to the mat in the classics after Kiril Milov (130kg) was eliminated earlier on Tuesday.

Bulgaria's third representative in the classic style, Rome 2020 European champion Semen Novikov (87kg), will begin his Olympic participation on Wednesday.