Wrestling U20 Worlds:
Iranians steal the show with triple GR golds on Day 5
Iranians dominated Day 5 of the Wrestling U20 World Championships in Amman, Jordan, grabbing three Greco-Roman gold medals across five weight classes.
Abolfazl Choubani had to settle for a silver in the 87kg category after a 4-1 loss to Georgian Achiko Bolkvadze, while a 9-0 defeat against Uzbekistan’s Alisher Ganiev in the third-place bout of the 55kg contests saw Ali Ahmadi Vafa leave the event empty-handed.
Ahmadreza Mohsennejad spearheaded the Iranians’ gold rush in the Jordanian capital, thanks to a 9-0 victory over Kyrgyzstan’s Zhantoro Mirzaliev – an Asian under-17 champion in 2022 – in the 63kg final.
Mohsennejad opened the scoring with a turn when Mirzaliev was put in par terre and then a stepout gave the Iranian a 4-0 lead at the break.
Double gut-wrenches on a second par terre in the second period secured the technical superiority for Mohsennejad, who follows in the footsteps of his elder brother Mehdi – a winner of multiple Asian and world under-23 medals.
Alireza Abdevali bagged a second gold for the country on Saturday, coming out on top against Moldovia’s Alexandru Solovei – a silver medalist last year – in the 77kg final.
The two wrestlers exchanged activity points with Abdevali holding the criteria after it finished 1-1 to avenge his final defeat against the Moldovan in the U17 world event two years ago.
Meanwhile, Fardin Hedayati bounced back from last year’s final heartbreak in emphatic fashion by cruising to the 130kg gold.
Hedayati eased into the final showdown, courtesy of three wins by technical superiority, before defeating China’s Wenhao Jiang in a repeat of last month’s encounter in Amman, where the Iranian came out victorious for the Asian under-20 gold.
Hedayati scored four steptouts and two takedowns in the 8-0 win over the Chinese opponent, meaning he did not concede a single point in the competition and was not in a par-terre position for being passive even once.
The superheavyweight class is dominated by reigning world silver medalist Amin Mirzazadeh in Iran, but the 20-year-old prodigy said he has already set sights on the major seniors’ glory in the near future.
“I have great opponents in Iran, including Amin Mirzazadeh, and I respect all of them, but I’ll be doing my best to be a decent representative for my country in the 2024 Olympics,” Hedayati said.
“I want to become a champion in Paris and the domestic rivalries only motivates me to train harder for my ultimate goal of Olympic success,” added the Iranian.
Freestyle crown
Saturday’s medals for Iran came after the country’s freestyle squad had claimed the world under-20 crown for a third year running last week in Amman.
Reza Shakeri (65kg), Mohammad-Mobin Azimi (92kg), Abolfazl Babalou (97kg), and Amir-Reza Masoumi (125kg) inspired Iran’s title-winning campaign by grabbing the gold medal in the their respective weight classes.
Ali Rezaei (70kg) and Hossein Mohammad Aqaei (74kg) added two silvers to the country’s medal haul, with Ali Khorramdel taking a 61kg bronze, as Iran finished atop the table with 165 points – 13 points clear of runner-up USA.