Iran confirms freestyle lineup for Wrestling World Championships
Two-time world silver medalist Mohammad Nokhodi as well as Amirmohammad Yazdani and Milad Valizadeh sealed their spots in September’s Wrestling World Championships as Iran completed the 10-man squad for the freestyle competitions in Belgrade.
The trio were in action in the UWW Ranking Series event in Budapest on Thursday and Friday – which also served as the final round of the Iranian trials for the World Championships.
Nokhodi represented the country in the 79kg contests – alongside Ali Savadkouhi – and defeated Georgian Vladimeri Gamkrelidze 3-0 for the ultimate prize.
The Iranian came within inches of the world gold over the past two years, only to come short against American sensation Jordan Burroughs in the final on both occasions.
With the six-time world champion absent in September’s world meet, Nokhodi will be looking to make it third time lucky in the Serbian capital.
Savadkouhi stole the headlines in last year’s FS World Cup by coming out victorious against Burroughs – a first triumph over the legendary wrestler in 15 attempts for the Iranians – but his pursuit of a place in the world event came to an end after a last-eight defeat against Georgia’s Avtandil Kentchadze, who was later beaten by Nokhodi in the semifinals.
Yazdani, meanwhile, had a below-par run in the 70kg contests as back-to-back defeats against American Joseph McKenna and Kazakhstan’s Sanzhar Doszhanov saw the 2021 world silver winner settle for a fifth-spot finish in Budapest.
However, Yazdani was given a second chance in a bout against his fellow Iranian Mohammad Bakhshi – who was stunned by Egyptian Amr Hussen in the quarterfinals – and made the most of it by a 6-0 win to book the ticket for Belgrade.
The quest for the Iranian 57kg berth also went down to a head-to-head battle after both Valizadeh and Ahmad Mohammadnejad-Javan failed to finish on the podium.
Valizadeh was knocked out by USA’s Zane Richards in the quarterfinals while Mohammadnejad-Javan suffered a 5-0 defeat against China’s Zou Wanhao in the bronze medal match.
Valizadeh still managed to edge out his compatriot 4-3 in the decider for a place in the Iranian team.
The three wrestlers will join reigning world champions Rahman Amouzad (65kg) and Kamran Qassempour (92kg) plus Reza Atri (57kg), Younes Emami (74kg), eight-time world and Olympic medalist Hassan Yazdani (86kg), Mojtaba Goleij (97kg), and Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) in the World Championships as Iran – runner-up to USA last year – will be chasing a first freestyle crown in a decade.
Qassempour could still miss out on a third successive world gold after limping off injured in a training session in June, though he insisted last week that he would recover in time for the visit to Belgrade.
Should the Iranian be ruled out of the World Championships, he will be replaced by young prodigy Amir-Ali Azarpira – a two-time world under-23 champion.
Azarpira took part in the Budapest tournament and delivered some impressive performances – including an emphatic 11-0 victory over last year’s world bronze winner Miriani Maisuradze of Georgia – but was unlucky to leave the event empty-handed due to a leg injury before the semifinals.