China's Zou Wanhao enters men's 57kg freestyle bronze medal match at wrestling worlds

China's Zou Wanhao (L) and American Thomas Gilman compete in the men's 57kg freestyle semifinals at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 16, 2021. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua)

Chinese wrestler Zou Wanhao lost in the men's 57kg freestyle semifinals and will vie for a bronze at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships.

BELGRADE, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Zou Wanhao lost 8-2 to defending champion Thomas Gilman of the United States in the men's 57kg freestyle semifinals at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships here on Friday.

Gilman, a bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, scored three takedowns, an activity clock point and a step-out to defeat Zou and advanced to Saturday night's final, where he will play Zelimkhan Abakarov from Albania.

The 24-year-old Chinese wrestler thus entered the bronze medal match, and will face the winner of Saturday afternoon's repechage match between Australian Georgii Okorokov and Mongolia's Zanabazar Zandanbud.

Zou, who has hardly participated in international competitions for the past three years due to the pandemic, emerged as an unexpected contender in the 57kg event with a dramatic 6-2 win over No.4 seed Alireza Sarlak of Iran in the qualification round.

He beat Aliabbas Rzazade of Azerbaijan and Darian Toi Cruz of Puerto Rico consecutively in the following bouts before taking No.1 seed Gilman in the semifinals. ■