Bilyana Dudova won bronze medal at the World wrestling championships

Bilyana Dudova won a bronze medal in the 62 kg category at the World wrestling championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, securing Bulgaria’s third medal at the competition. She defeated Sweden’s Sarah Lindborg 4–2 in the bronze-medal bout. Lindborg had previously lost to Turkey’s Sevim Akbaş in the semifinals.

This is Dudova’s tenth medal from World and European Championships. On Wednesday, the Bulgarian wrestler lost her semifinal bout against American Adaugo Nwachukwu. Dudova is the only Bulgarian woman competing at the tournament.

The 2021 world champion began her campaign with a convincing victory over Namibia’s Kavellishimwe Abraham. She won by technical superiority, 13–2.

In the quarterfinals, the Bulgarian faced a tougher challenge against Belarusian Veronika Ivanova. After her opponent scored points because of passivity, Dudova managed to turn the match around with a successful attack a minute before the end. An unsuccessful challenge by the Belarusian team secured the final score of 3–2 in Dudova’s favour.

Bulgaria already has two other medals from the championships in Astana: Semen Novikov won gold, while Kiril Milov claimed bronze in Greco-Roman wrestling.

In men’s freestyle wrestling, Bulgaria is represented by Shamil Mamedov in the 65 kg category and Akhmed Magamaev in the 97 kg category.