The first ranking tournament of 2026, held in Zagreb, Croatia, proved successful for Azerbaijani female wrestler Zahra Karimzada, who concluded the event with a bronze medal.

According to Offsideplus.az, other representatives faced tougher challenges: Nargis Samadova (53 kg) exited the competition without a medal after losing to Poland's Roksana Marta Zasina (0:10) in the qualification round and to Japan's Umi Imai (1:13) in the repechage bout. Similarly, Jala Aliyeva (57 kg) saw an early exit after a defeat against Brazil's Giullia Penalber (4:14) in her opening match.

Zahra Karimzada (72 kg), despite a quarter-final loss to Türkiye's Buse Tosun (0:2), secured her spot on the podium by claiming a decisive 4:1 victory over Japan's Mahiro Yoshitake in the bronze medal match.

It should be noted that our country is being represented by the national women's wrestling team at this tournament.