Tuba Demir Loses in Semifinal, Will Compete for Bronze Medal

Tuba Demir, competing in the women's 55 kg category at the 2026 World Wrestling Championships, which is ongoing in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, lost to Ukraine's Nataliia Klivchutska in the semifinal. The European third-place wrestler was pinned in the bout, in which she trailed her opponent by 6 points, and failed to advance to the final.

The match, held on the sixth day of the tournament, was a significant obstacle in Demir's goal of winning her first medal at the senior world championships. On her way there, she had advanced to the next round by beating Uzbekistan's Sandugash Djenbaeva 11 to 2 in the second round and India's Ahilya Shatrughn Shinde 9 to 6 in the quarterfinal.

Demir is expected to compete in the bronze medal match in tomorrow evening's session. The wrestler aims to win this bout and reach her first medal at a major tournament.

The situation of the other national athletes is different. Bediha Gün, who lost to Kazakhstan's Altyn Shagayeva in the second round of the women's 59 kg category, was eliminated after her opponent failed to reach the final. Zeynep Yetgil Kamal (53 kg) and Sevim Akbaş (62 kg) were beaten by their Swedish opponents in the repechage and bowed out of the tournament.