Over the years there have been many rivalries but nothing comes close to wrestling battles between Turkey’s Taha Akgul and Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili. The two are the best wrestlers in the 125kg men’s freestyle wrestling.
Akgul alongside 97kg freestyle champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev is regarded as the best active wrestler in the world. He is the five-time world medallist including two gold and silver and one bronze medal. He is also the current Olympic gold medallist.
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Petriashvili, on the other hand, is the 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medallist. He is also the five-time world champion including three gold and two bronze medals.
Both the wrestlers have qualified for the Tokyo Games, thanks to their 2019 worlds medal finish.
But now both the wrestlers are in lockdown due to the outbreak of coronavirus, which has caused fans to have major missing for wrestling. No worries, while you sit at home, we have brought you their best wrestling battles.
-World Championships 2017, Paris:
It was a dramatic gold medal match. Akgul scored the first point on the counter in less than one minute into the game. The Turkish international continued to dominate the first period by taking a four-point lead. But the Georgian wrestler turned the tables in his favour in the dying seconds of the first half. Within one minute he covered the four-point lead by two successive takedowns, levelling the score at 4-4.
In the second half, both the wrestlers went into attacking mode. With a series of attacks, the wrestlers were drawn at 8-8. But in the final 10 seconds of the bout, Petriashvili executed a two-pointer move and became the world champion.
-European Championship 2019, Bucharest:
In a rematch to the 2017 World Championship, both the wrestlers were once again pitted in the finals of the 125kg freestyle. In the bout, Akgul started strong taking a 4-0 lead in the first period. The Turkish continued his dominance and won the match 7-0.
-World Championship 2019, Nur Sultan:
Just like every time, Akgul stuck to his attacking prowess and took an early lead. The Turkish dominated the majority of the match but lost the match after losing to Petriashvili on criteria.
