Rıza Kayaalp lost 5-3 to Matti Elias Kuosmanen in the Greco-Roman 130-kilo quarter-finals at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana. Having won his first two bouts, Kayaalp missed repechage when the Finnish wrestler failed to reach the final and left without a medal. He had returned to the world championships after last competing in 2023.
Rıza Kayaalp lost 5-3 to Finland’s Matti Elias Kuosmanen in the Greco-Roman 130 kilo quarter-finals at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. Kuosmanen advanced to the semi-finals with the win.[1], [2]
Kuosmanen opened with a four-point arm throw. Kayaalp reversed him and used a gut wrench to reduce the deficit to 4-3. Kuosmanen gained a passivity point in the second period and held his lead. This quarter-final was the wrestlers’ first meeting.[2]
Kayaalp began by beating India’s Joginder Rathee 9-0 through technical superiority. He then defeated Ukraine’s Mykhailo Vyshnyvetskyi 4-0 in the second round.[1]
Kayaalp had last competed at the world championships in 2023. Returning to the event in Astana at the age of 37, he had previously won five golds, three silvers and two bronzes at world championships.[1]
Kuosmanen did not reach the final, closing Kayaalp’s route to repechage. Hungary’s Darius Attila Vitek and Iran’s Fardin Shaban Hedayati reached the final. Vitek had lost to Kayaalp in the European championship gold-medal match earlier that year. Kayaalp had surpassed Aleksandr Karelin’s European championship record with a thirteenth gold. With five world titles, Kayaalp is the Turkish wrestler with the most golds at the event.[1]
