Zagreb Open Ranking Series:
Mohmadi bags gr 87kg silver
The first day of the Greco-Roman competitions at the season-opening Ranking Series event saw Iranian Alireza Mohmadi take the 87kg silver at the Zagreb Open.
Elsewhere on Day 1, Amir Abdi – a 77kg gold medalist in December’s National Championships – suffered an early exit from the Crotian capital after a first-round 11-3 defeat against the host’s Antonio Kamenjasevic.
An 82kg silver winner in last September’s World Championships, Mohmadi was on a high heading to Zagreb after grabbing the national gold with a victory over Nasser Alizadeh – in what was the first episode of the head-to-head between the two in leading the line for the country in the Olympic qualification events in the coming months.
Mohmadi began his campaign in Zagreb with 5-0 win against China’s Chengwu Wang and went on to defeat Venezuelan Luis Avendaño (9-2) and Georgian Achiko Bolkvadze (3-3) for a place in the semifinals against Russian Alan Ostaev, who took part as a neutral competitor.
A closely-fought clash saw the Iranian edge his opponent 2-1 and head progress into the final against Russia’s former world under-23 champion Milad Alirzaev, also representing the neutral athletes team.
Mohmadi got a par terre advantage and managed to throw Alirzaev but failed to get a correct throw. Alirzaev blocked him during the throw to score two points, a decision which Iran challenged and lost, giving Alirzaev a 3-1 lead.
The Iranian reduced the deficit with a stepout but that was only after Alirzaev was awarded a point for par terre, making the final scoreline 4-2.