Index – Sports – Daniele Ligeti hopes for consolation in his final Olympics

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“Hopefully he will beat the Iranian and then we will meet again,” Dániel Ligeti concluded in the interview area set up on the side of the Champ de Mars after the Turkish classics Taha Akgül defeated the Iranian in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games -final. The Haradas wrestlers can take solace in the fact that the 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist only has to “beat” Amir Zare, which is no child’s play – the latter is a two-time world champion and bronze medalist in the weight category in 2016. Tokyo.

As for the 35-year-old Ligeti’s performance, he defeated Nigeria’s Ashton Mutuwa by technical knockout in just two and a half minutes in the first round before his career-defining clash with Agul arrived.

The African wrestler qualified for Paris by reaching the continental stage without any major international results. Regarding their fight, Ligeti said that he stands by the Nigerian’s integrity and that his knowledge should not be underestimated despite his relatively quick success. At the same time, he also pointed out that he is happy to start with an opponent who is his favorite even among bookmakers. It is also because of this that the pressure on him has been reduced a little in the past few days.

Although he performed well in the first opponent, he encountered such a tough opponent in the second opponent. Perhaps the most difficult opponent in the 125kg field at present is the Turkish opponent.

“I knew from March, we knew it would be the quarter-finals, nobody had an advantage or disadvantage in this match,” he said of the match that sealed an 8-0 victory for Turkey. – I could really beat him once, but I tried not to lose myself, not saying I would beat him after 6:6. Although I tried my best, he was clearly better than me. I tried to stay positive and think that I can play in the third Olympics of my life, that I have qualified, which is a great word in itself. I have been living with several generations of athletes in the Olympic Village since London, and it is a special experience for each other. It is an honor to be here. ”

As soon as the fight started, Agul took advantage of a brief loss of balance on Ligeti and pushed him off the mat. Despite the amazing encouragement from the stands, our 35-year-old European silver medalist could not catch up with his opponent, who is two years younger. The latter did nothing extra but diligently collected a point or two to push Ligeti outside the mat or to get behind the Hungarian. He led 3-0 at the break and eventually won 8-0 against Ligeti, who was forced into action in the first half but could not really find a point to receive the ball.

What will the sequel bring?

“I believe I can still wrestle tomorrow and hopefully get a bronze medal, so I’m not going to let myself get completely upset. According to the paper form, the Turks are the better wrestlers, but I’m not known to be good at guessing, so I’d rather say that the night was a success for Iran, and then I’ll be happy that I was wrong.”

Regarding his long-term plans, the student of István Vereb said that he has given himself until the end of the year to decide whether it is time to retire or if there is still enough strength and motivation to go into the next season.

“I came here wanting to give it my all, and if I can get a medal at the end, that would be even better. But I don’t want to regret it if I don’t get the chance to continue because I feel like I gave it my all,” said our regular wrestler.

Ligeti said several times during qualifying that he knew this was likely his last chance to make it to the Olympics and prove himself there.

The evening wrestling show starts at 18:15 at the Champ de Mars Arena. The match between Zare and Agul will be the third match on the center mat.