Rıza Kayaalp Eliminated in Quarterfinals at World Championship

The 2026 World Wrestling Championship was held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, where national wrestler Rıza Kayaalp lost 5-3 to Finland's Matti Elias Kuosmanen in the quarterfinals. The 37-year-old competed in the Greco-Roman style 130 kg category and bowed out of the tournament with this defeat.

Rıza had opened the tournament with a 9-0 technical superiority win over India's Joginder Rathee. In the second round he beat Ukraine's Mykhailo Vyshnyvetskyi 4-0, but in the quarterfinals he could not get the result he wanted. Because his Finnish opponent failed to reach the final, Rıza also did not earn a repechage chance.

Returning to the World Championship mat for the first time since 2023, Rıza Kayaalp holds 5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals from this event. The wrestler, who carries the title of "the Turkish wrestler with the most world championship titles," also broke Russia's Aleksandr Karelin's record at the European Championships with his 13th gold medal.

In the Greco-Roman 130 kg category, Hungary's Darius Attila Vitek and Iran's Fardin Shaban Hedayati reached the final. From Türkiye, İbrahim Tığcı is competing in the repechage bout in the 97 kg category, keeping his bronze medal hopes alive. Cengiz Arslan, who lost his first bout in the 72 kg category, was eliminated and completed the tournament.