BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Russian Shirvani Muradov won Russia their sixth wrestling gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games here on Thursday.

    Muradov defeated Taimuraz Tigiyev of Kazakhstan in the men's freestyle 96kg wrestling final. He took the first period on a single-leg takedown, but left the door open for his opponent by leaving the second period scoreless.

    Tigiyev received the advantage from grasping Muradov's leg to start extra time, but Muradov quickly broke the grip for a 2-0 (1-0, 1-0) victory.

    "After each battle of the tournament I felt better and better. The semifinal was very difficult and the final as well," said Muradov. "Tigiyev is a very good sportsman and we know each other very well. At the end of the second period I was under a huge amount of pressure."

    "For this moment, I'm not feeling that I have won the gold. Maybe I will feel that once I'm back to my motherland."

    Muradov's gold was Russia' third gold in freestyle and also their sixth wrestling title at the Beijing 2008 Games.

    The 23-year-old replaced Khadshimourad Gatsalov, the 2004 Athens champion and three-time reigning world champion, to make Russia's Olympic delegation although Gatsalov won every major world title since 2004 in 96kg category.

    In the bronze medal matches, 2001 world champion George Gogshelidze of Georgia tripped Cuban Michel Bastista to his back early in the second period and pressed for a fall at 58 seconds to win while Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan stunned Georgii Tibilov of Ukraine with single-leg attacks for a 2-0 (5-0, 2-0) victory for the other.