Havana, September 22 (RHC) - Cuba's Gabriel Rosillo will be in one of the 97 kg semifinals at the World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, while Oscar Pino (130) will fight for bronze.
Rosillo, who has had an impressive comeback after recovering from injuries and illnesses, achieved three wins to reach the semifinals, where he will face the second in the world ranking, Mohammadhadi Saravi, from Iran.
The Cuban fighter defeated Peter Oehler of Germany (9-1) in his first fight, Rustam Assakalov of Uzbekistan (6-4) in the second and Abubakar Khasla-Khanau, a fighter who competes under a neutral flag, 8-5 in the third.
Also on Friday, Oscar Pino (130 kg), will fight for one of the bronze medals in his category against Romas Fridrikas of Lithuania.
Pino, winner of a silver medal and two bronze medals in world championships, could not reach the title discussion after losing in the semifinals a close fight (1-1) with Iranian Amin Mirzazadeh, who was the last one to score a point.
Should he win the bronze metal, Pino would secure an Olympic ticket to Paris 2024 in the 130 kg.
In the other semifinal, the well-known Turkish Riza Kayaalp, five-time world champion, defeated China's Lingzhe Meng with a 3-1 score.
Pino won against Daniel Gastl, from Austria, who withdrew due to injury, against the Armenian David Ovasa pyan, 4-1, and against the Romanian Alin Ciurariu, 9-0.
Greco-Cuban Yosvanys Peña (77 kg) also had two wins, but lost in the round of 16 to Serbia's Viktor Nemes, in a duel that ended 1-1, while Kevin de Armas (60 kg) lost to Azerbaijan's Nihat Mamadli, 6-2.
Still to compete for Cuba in the Greco style are Olympic champion Luis Orta (67 kg) and Daniel Gregorich (87 kg).
Orta, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020, Pino and now Rosillo, are the best podium options for Cuba in the competition, which awards five tickets per division for next year's Olympic Games in the French capital.
In previous days, Cuban Milaimys de la Caridad Marín also qualified for Paris-2024 by taking fifth place in the 76 kg division.
