Russia continued to dominate the opening days of the Games of the CIS Countries as wrestling competition concluded ©Getty Images

Russia continued to dominate the wrestling competition at the Games of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Countries as the Opening Ceremony of the Games took place in Kazan.

Hosts Russia has illustrated its dominance in the wrestling in the early days of competition, winning 21 of the 30 gold medals available.

On the second and final day of wrestling action, Russia won all but one gold medal in the female categories. 

The nine golds included Maria Tyumerekova who was victorious in the 50-kilogram division, Ekaterina Verbina won gold in the 53kg, Victoria Vaulina won in the 57kg and Evgenia Zakharchenko in the 76kg.

Kalmira Bilimbekova of Kyrgyzstan was the only non-Russian female wrestler to win gold, beating Russian Alexandra Skirenko in the 55kg final.

Of the 10 men's gold medals of the day, Russia won seven, winning silvers in the other three events. 

Azerbaijan's Ashraf Ashirov, Abubakar Abakarov and Osman Nurmagomedov won the 79kg, 86kg and 92kg categories respectively.

The Opening Ceremony featured traditional dancing, with the Games of the CIS Countries officially declared open ©Getty Images
The Opening Ceremony featured traditional dancing, with the Games of the CIS Countries officially declared open ©Getty Images

The action took place prior to the Opening Ceremony of the Games. 

At the ceremony, a greeting to the athletes, spectators and organisers from Russian President Vladimir Putin was read out by deputy minister of sports of the Russian Federation Alexei Morozov.

Other speakers at the ceremony included President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, first deputy chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Leonid Anfimov, and deputy minister of sports and tourism of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Baraulya. 

Chairman of the Executive Committee Sergei Lebedev then declared the Games open, after which the State Chamber Choir of Tatarstan performed the Russian national anthem.

Demonstrations in the ceremony included Russian and Tatar traditional dancing, a dance ensemble of Tatarstan accompanied by a state folk orchestra, and performances titled "Milli Aachen" and "Kazan 2021", which included breakdance numbers and tricks from roller skaters and BMX riders.

The Games of the CIS Countries welcome around 1,500 athletes between the ages of 18 and 23 across 16 sports.

Nine countries compete in the multi-sport event - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

The action continues tomorrow, with medals decided on the only day of belt wrestling competition and boxing.

It is also the opening day of 3x3 basketball and thai boxing competition.