Greco-Roman Wrestling National Championships:
Iranians to kickstart hunt for Paris places
Iranian wrestlers will begin their quest for a place in next summer’s Paris Olympics when the Greco-Roman National Championships kick off in Qom on Wednesday.
Iran has already booked three quotas for the Games in the French capital, thanks to medal-winning runs by Amin Mirzazadeh (130kg), Mohammad-Hadi Saravi (97kg) and Mohammadreza Geraei (67kg) in last September’s World Championships in Belgrade, with the 60kg, 77kg, and 87kg slots still up for grabs.
The three world medalists as well as Danial Sohrabi (67kg) and Amin Kavianinejad (77kg), who won a bronze and silver in October’s Asian Games respectively, have been excluded from the event, which will serve as the Iranian trials for the upcoming Olympic qualification tournaments.
All eyes will be on the 87kg contests, where Alireza Mohmedi – an 82kg runner-up in Belgrade – and Nasser Alizadeh, who took the silver of the weight class at the Asian Games, will be the favorites for the top podium.
Should both make it to the final showpiece in Qom, it will likely be the first episode of a head-to-head between the two in the coming months, which could feature international outings at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in January, and next April’s Asian OG Qualifier in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Having already secured seven Greco-Roman and freestyle spots for the Olympics, Iran hope to make a clean sweep of 12 berths before heading to Paris.
Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) and Hassan Yazdani (86kg) finished on the podium in Belgrade, while Rahman Amouzad, despite the failure in defending his world 65kg crown, managed to finish fifth to book a third freestyle spot for the country.
Kamran Qassempour missed out on the National Championships in mid-December with an injury, but has been given a second chance by the coaching staff at the Zagreb Open, where he will represent the country – alongside reigning Iranian champion Amir-Ali Azarpira – in the 97kg event, as he will be looking to add the Olympic glory to his double world 92kg golds in 2021 and 2022.
A gold winner in the National Championships, Hossein Abouzari and world 79kg silver winner Mohammad Nokhodi will be the frontrunners in chasing the 74kg quota for Iran, while Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan will be looking to build on a dominant 57kg campaign in the national event – featuring a final victory over former world silver medalist Alireza Sarlak – to punch a ticket for Paris.