Wrestling success for Egypt on mixed morning for Arab athletes at Tokyo 2020

Egypt's Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed (blue) reacts after winning against Armenia's Karen Aslanyan in their men's greco-roman 67kg wrestling 1/4 final match during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo on August 3, 2021. (AFP)
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  • 聽Mohamed Metwally and Mohamed Ibrahim Elsayed reach semifinals of 87 kg and 67 kg categories

TOKYO: Egyptian athletes enjoyed a productive Tuesday morning on the wrestling mat at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with two fighters reaching the semifinals.

Mohammed Metwally beat Cuba鈥檚 Daniel Hechavarria 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the Greco-Roman 87-kilogram competition after a crushing 9-1 win against Kiryl Maskevich of Belarus in the previous round.

Metwally鈥檚 compatriot Mohammed Ibrahim Elsayed had a tougher time in his 67-kilogram matches, edging South Korea鈥檚 Hansu Ryu in his first bout, and getting another slim victory over Karen Aslanyan of Armenia in their quarterfinal bout.

Both will take to the mat later in their bid to reach the finals of their respective competitions.

In other bouts, Tunisia鈥檚 Lamjed Maafi lost 11-1 to Azerbaijan鈥檚 Rafig Huseynov in the 77-kg repechage while Ryu defeated Algeria鈥檚 Abdelmalek Merabet 8-0 in a 67-kg qualification match before losing to Metwally.

Aker Al-Obaidi of the refugee team beat Tunisia鈥檚 Souleymen Nasr 8-0 in the 67-kg category but was then defeated 10-0 by Georgia鈥檚 Ramaz Zoidze in the quarterfinals.

Algerian wrestler Bachir Sid Azara wiped out China鈥檚 Fei Peng 11-1 to reach the 87-kg quarterfinals, but then lost narrowly to Ukraine鈥檚 Zhan Beleniuk.

In the women鈥檚 freestyle quarterfinals, Sweden鈥檚 Henna Johansson overcame Tunisia鈥檚 Marwa Amri 5-1.

On the track, Lebanon鈥檚 Noureddine Hadid finished last in the 200-meter heats with a time of 21.12 seconds and did not advance.