Asian OG Qualifier:
Iran’s Azarpira, Emami punch tickets for Paris
Iran’s Amir-Ali Azarpira and Younes Emami secured a couple of quotas for the Paris Olympics through the Asian qualification event in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, taking the country’s freestyle wrestling berths in the French capital to five.
Rising Iranian star Azarpira built on his impressive form in recent months to progress and is all but guaranteed the country’s 97kg slot in Paris – ahead of two-time world 92kg champion Kamran Qassempour, who has been dealing with a groin injury over the past year and was comprehensively beaten by American Kyle Snyder in January’s Zagreb Open.
Heading into Bishkek event on the back of a morale-boosting victory over Snyder in the Zagreb final, Azarpira defeated Mongolian Asian Games bronze medalist Gankhuyag Ganbaatar 3-0, clinching the victory with a takedown in the second period while on the activity clock.
“Today’s competition was very tough because the Olympic quota was on the line and there was no room for mistakes,” two-time world U23 champion Azarpira said.
“I could be better than this but I had to be careful because I desperately wanted the quota, and my success here would settle the Iranian 97kg wrestler selection for Paris.”
In his only other match in Bishkek, Azarpira came out on top against Japanese Arash Yoshida – whose father is Iranian and runs a kids wrestling club where he began his career in the sport – in a bout that was close until the Iranian pulled away in the second period for a 9-1 win.
Earlier on Friday, two-time world bronze medalist Emami punched his Paris ticket in emphatic fashion, outmuscling former Asian champion Gong Byung-min of South Korea 15-4 before a technical-fall triumph over Kazakhstan’s Nurkozha Kaipanov – a world silver winner in 2019 – in the 74kg semifinals.
The Iranian cruised to a six-point advantage with three takedowns in the first period and then extended his lead with a stepout after the restart. A driving takedown was followed by a gut wrench as Emami finished off the contest in 3:49 minutes.
Emami had won the 2021 Asian qualifier in Almaty though he missed out on a place in the Tokyo Olympics, watching fellow-Iranian Mostafa Hosseinkhani suffer a first-round defeat against American Kyle Dake.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan got off to a flying start in the 57kg contests with a 10-0 win against Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii but his campaign came to an end in the quarterfinals after a 14-3 loss to Mongolian Batkhuyagiin Mönkh-Erdene.
Iran will still have a last chance to win a 57kg quota for a complete Olympic six-man squad when the 2021 world silver winner Alireza Sarlak takes part at the World OG Qualifier in Istanbul next month.
Rahman Amouzad (65kg), Hassan Yazdani (86kg), and Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) had already secured three quotas for the country through last September’s World Championships.
Iran will also be looking to win the remaining two Greco-Roman slots in Bishkek today when Amin Kavianinejad and world silver medalist Alireza Mohmadi take on their Asian opponents in the 77kg and 87kg contests respectively.