Vitaly Yeremenko successfully debuted at the World Senior Olympic Wrestling Championships // Photo: uww.org
In the small final, the 21-year-old Yeromenko defeated Alexander Grushin of Italy 6-5. The second position in the under-63 kg category in the International Olympic Sports Federation rankings allowed Yeromenko to fight for one of the two bronze medals despite a 0-10 loss to future world champion Aitzhan Khalmakhanov in the semifinal bout.
The Moldovan athlete also defeated Aref Mohammadi from Qatar (4:1) and Azatjan Achilov from Turkmenistan (3:1). World vice-champion Khanye Chun lost to Khalmakhanov 0:6 in the grand final. The second bronze medal was won by Mohammad Keshtkar from Iran, who defeated Russia’s Sergey Emelin, who was competing in a neutral status, in the decisive match.
Yeromenko took part in the World Senior Championships for the first time in his career. Last year, he won the gold medal at the World Youth Championships in Tirana, Albania. He is also a world youth champion (2024), European youth champion (2025), European youth vice-champion (2024), and European bronze medalist (2025).
Vitalii Jeremenco’s medal allowed the Moldovan Greco-Roman wrestling team to win the 16th place in the team medal standings among 57 countries that delegated wrestlers of this style to the tournament. The teams of Iran, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan climbed to the top of the ranking.
The Moldovan women’s wrestling team is a little lower – on the 17th position among 50 participating countries. The first three places were taken by teams from Japan, DPRK and China. The worst performance was made by Moldovan freestyle wrestlers, whose results allowed the Moldovan team to rise only to 26th place among 62 countries. The teams of Iran, USA and Japan took the team podium.
As Logos Press reported earlier, the first medal at the World Championships was won by Irina Ryngac, who became the bronze medalist of the women’s competition in the weight category up to 65 kg.
The World Olympic Wrestling Championships were held in the Croatian capital from September 13 to 21. More than 750 wrestlers from 76 countries took part in it.
