Iran eyeing double title defense in Wrestling U20 Worlds
Days after Iran made a clean sweep of the freestyle and Greco-Roman world under-17 trophies, the country will seek yet another glorious campaign when the Wrestling U20 World Championships get underway in Amman, Jordan, on Monday.
The two Iranian squads will put their world titles on the line in Amman, which brings back fund memories for the wrestling powerhouse, as Iran stormed to double Asian crowns of the age group in the Jordanian capital in July.
Amirreza Masoumi headlines the Iranian freestyle team at the event and will be chasing a second successive world title in the 125kg weight class.
Ali Rezaei (70kg) and Mohammad-Mobin Azimi (92kg), meanwhile, will be looking to build on their Asian gold-winning campaigns, with Ahmad Javan (57kg), Ali Khorramdel (61kg), Mohammadreza Shakeri (65kg), Hossein Aqaei (74kg), Farzad Safi (79kg), Amirhossein Alizadeh (86kg), and Abolfazl Babalou (97kg) completing the freestyle squad.
A total of eight medals – including three golds – saw Iran beat the USA to freestyle crown last year in Sofia, and both countries will again be the favorites to finish atop the table, though the return of the Russian wrestlers, participating as neutral athletes, will surely affect the final outcome in each division.
In the Greco-Roman contests, Iran will be represented by some high-profile wrestlers of the age category, including the 2021 world U20 champion Amirreza Dehbozorgi (60kg), as well as Abolfazl Choubani (87kg) and Fardin Hedayati (130kg), who will hope to improve on their defeats in the final showdowns last year in Sofia.
Ahoura Bouveiri (67kg), Amirreza Akbari (97kg) will return to Amman as the reigning Asian champions, with Ali Ahmadi Vafa (55kg), Ahmadreza Mohsennejad (63kg), Mohammad-Mehdi Miri (72kg), Alireza Abdevali (77kg), and Yasin Yazdi (82kg) also in the squad.
Iran bagged a remarkable four golds plus two silvers and bronze medals apiece to collect 174 points in Sofia – 55 clear of second-placed Azerbaijan.