Imerlishvili secured a tremendous KO victory over Team Poland’s Marek Wlodarczyk, guaranteeing a medal for Georgia. He now faces Jeremy Dede of France in the semifinals, while Nicola Cupo (Italy) meets Oleksandr Khodakov (Ukraine) in the other Super Heavyweight semifinal.
Latin American teams also impressed in Tbilisi, with strong performances from Jimena Osorio and Marlon Calderon. Uruguay’s Osorio, a former World Champion, defeated England’s Sunnatun Choudhury to guarantee a medal for her country. Calderon, representing Mexico, claimed his second win of the tournament and will look to book a place in the Junior Men’s Strawweight final when he faces Dimash Zhaksylyk of Kazakhstan.
In the same bracket as Osorio, Anna Hyria maintained her perfect submission record, defeating Mexico’s Carmen Soto Miranda. She will now face Soto Miranda’s teammate Maria Jose Blanco, for a spot in the final. On the other side of the bracket, Osorio will meet England’s Caitlyn Hadfield.
Meanwhile, in the Senior Men’s Flyweight division, Tryford Mwaanga made history for Zambia by defeating Kazakhstan’s Aidos Zhanabay in the quarter finals. He will now compete for a spot in the finals against England’s Qudrat Safi.
Team Germany’s Oskar Sennewald overcame a valiant effort from American Jake Christensen to earn his place in the Middleweight semifinal, where he will face hometown favourite Roman Chochishvili. The winner will go on to fight for gold against either Zhaxybek Aimakhanov (Kazakhstan) or Yoan Moreno (France).
The biggest-ever IMMAF World Championships continue in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, September 30, for Day 4 of competition.
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