Asian Wrestling Championships:
Amouzad revels in bringing joy to Iranians after
Freestyle wrestler Rahman Amouzad said there was no bigger joy than making his fellow Iranians happy after he walked away with the 65kg gold at the Asian Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
A gold medalist in last September’s World Championships in Belgrade, the 20-year-old defeated Mongolian Tumur Ochir 3-1 to win the ultimate prize at the event for a second successive year.
An activity point for the Mongolian was the lone score of a staid first period in which the 2021 world bronze winner consistently fended off Amouzad’s attacks.
In the second period, Ochir attempted an arm spin, but Amouzad kept his feet and scrambled behind for a takedown. He then received an activity point to complete the scoring.
“I dedicate my heart and my soul to train hard to make the Iranian people happy. This is the biggest joy for me in life,” said Amouzad – also a winner of three world cadet and junior gold medals.
Amouzad, who was only named in the Iranian squad after Payman Babaei was ruled out of the event with an injury, outmuscled host’s Sanzhar Mukhtar in the quarterfinals before edging Japanese Ryoma Anraku 2-1 for a place in the final.
“I had less than a month to prepare for the competition. The 65kg division is the toughest in the world, but I enjoy being a part of that weight class. The Japan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia opponents were all truly good wrestlers,” said Amouzad.
“I hope to repeat this medal at the next World Championships and the Olympic Games.”
Amouzad was surprisingly the only one of the five Iranians to make it to the final showdowns on the first day of the freestyle contests.
Having suffered a last-four 8-5 defeat against Kazakhstan’s Bolat Sakayev, Amirhossein Kavousi beat Yajuro Yamasaki 6-0 to claim a consolation bronze in the 79kg contests – sharing the podium with Indian Deepak Mirka – with Sakayev going all the way to win the gold, thanks to a 7-4 triumph over Zafarbek Otakhonov of Uzbekistan.
An Asian champion in 2020, Mojtaba Goleij also had to settle for a joint third-spot finish in the 97kg class – alongside Makhsud Veysalov of Uzbekistan – courtesy of a 11-0 win against home favorite Bekzat Urkimbay.
Bahrain’s Akhmed Tazhudinov, who came out victorious against Goleij in the semifinals, eased to an 11-0 win against China’s Awusayiman Habila for the gold.
Iranian duo Alireza Sarlak (57kg) and Morteza Qiassi (70kg) left the event empty-handed.
The freestyle event came after Iran had bagged 196 points en route to the Greco-Roman title in Astana.
Pouya Dadmarz (55kg), Iman Mohammadi (63kg), Nasser Alizadeh (87kg), Mehdi Bali (97kg), and Amin Mirzazadeh (130kg) were the five Iranian gold medalists, while Amin Kavianinejad settled for the silver after an injury kept him out of the 77kg final.
Sajjad Imentalab fell short against Ibragim Magomadov of Kazakhstan in the 72kg final with Alireza Mohmadi taking a joint bronze in the 82kg class.
Kyrgyzstan followed Iran in the Greco-Roman standing with 166 points, with Kazakhstan standing third on 160 points.
retaining FS gold