Athlete of the Week on RRI – Wrestler Andrei Dukov

Andrei Dukov won bronze in the 57-kg category at the European Championships

Steliu Lambru, 09.05.2017, 13:08

At the European Wrestling Championships that came to a close in Novi Sad, Serbia, Romania grabbed two medals, both in the freestyle event: Andrei Dukov grabbed silver, in the 57-kg category, while Alina Vuc won bronze in the women’s 48-kg category. Another three athletes came in 5th place, after losing the bronze finals: Kriszta Incze in the 60-kg freestyle category, Adrian Moise in the 70-kg freestyle category, and Alin Alexuc in the 130-kg Greek-Roman category. Thus our delegation met the objective set by the Romanian Wrestling Federation, namely winning two medals. For winning silver in the freestyle event, Radio Romania International has designated Andrei Dukov Athelte of the Week.

Last week Dukov concluded the 57-kg men’s competition by taking on Georgian-born Azeri Ghiorghi Edisherashvili in the final. His opponent was far more experienced, as he won the 2013 European gold medal in the 55-kg category. In the round of 16, Dukov had eliminated Aleksandar Mancic of Serbia, knocked out Georgian-born Spanish wrestler Levan Metreveli Vartanov in the quarterfinals and edged out Suleyman Atli of Turkey in the semi-finals.

Andrei Dukov was born on December 22, 1987 in Ismail, Ukraine. He is 1,65 meters tall and weighs 62 kgs. In 2008 he was awarded Romanian citizenship and was signed by Steaua Bucharest Army Sports Club. Apart from this year’s silver medal, Dukov has also won a bronze in the 2016 European Wrestling Championships in Riga. In 2011 and 2013 he won gold at the Ion Corneanu tournament. In 2013 he won silver in the German Grand Prix. (Translated by V. Palcu)