Qassempour dealt fresh surgery blow to quest for Olympic berth
Kamran Qassempour suffered yet another blow to his quest for a freestyle wrestling place in the Paris Olympics after being forced to undergo a hernia surgery on Friday – caused by the immense training pressure in recent weeks.
Having missed last September’s World Championships with a groin injury, the two-time world 92kg champion made a first international appearance in more than a year in the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event in January, where he took part in the Olympic 97kg weight class.
The Iranian fell to a last-four defeat against American great Kyle Snyder before setting for a consolation bronze, courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Turkish Erhan Yaylaci.
Young Iranian prodigy Amir-Ali Azarpira, meanwhile, came from behind to beat Snyder in the final showdown to introduce himself as the country’s frontrunner in the Olympic qualifying events in the coming months.
The latest injury setback will sideline Qassempour for two to four weeks, meaning he will be ruled out of Turkey’s Yasar Dogu & Vehbi Emre tournament in early March, which will also serve as the Iranian trials for the Olympic qualifiers as well as the Asian Championships in April.