A ‘fit’ Yazdani deserves a shot at Olympic title, Dabir says
Wrestling sensation Hassan Yazdani deserves the opportunity to win a third Olympic medal, should he be fit and ready when the Paris Games kick off in July, Alirez Dabir, the chairman of the Iranian Wrestling Federation said.
Dabir still insisted that Yazdani will have to convince the Iranian coaching staff of his fitness when he takes part in the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial tournament – starting June 6 in Budapest.
Having won the Olympic 86kg quota for the country thanks to a silver medal in the previous World Championships, Yazdani had to undergo a surgery on his injured shoulder right after a gold-winning campaign in last September’s Asian Games and only made his long-awaited return to training two weeks ago.
“Hassan is surely one of the four special figures in the history of the Iranian wrestling alongside Gholamreza Takhti, Abdollah Movahed, and Hamid Sourian,” Dabir told Mehr News Agency of the winner of a national-high nine world and Olympic medals.
“He truly deserves to go Paris according to the selection process of the national team,” added Dabir.
A gold medal in April’s Asian Championships would have handed Hadi Vafaeipour a shot at the Olympic berth with a head-to-head against Yazdani but his failure in Bishkek left him out of contention for the Games.
“Let’s not forget that Hassan has been out of action for nine to 10 months, so he will be tested in Budapest to have his fitness level assessed,” Dabir said, adding: “I’m confident that he will be a favorite for the Olympic gold if his body bears the pressure in the Hungarian tournament.”
However, Dabir said Kamran Qassempour remains “a plan B” for the Iranian 86kg spot in Paris if Yazdani still struggles with a shoulder problem.
“We don’t really care who goes to Paris. The important thing will be to win the gold there,” said the Iranian, who enjoyed the taste of the Olympic glory in Sydney 2000.
A two-time world 92kg champion Qassempour, who had to deal with his own injury woes over the past 12 months – which ruled him out of the world title defense in Belgrade last year – moved up to the Olympic 97kg weight class for the start of the new year.
His below-par results in January’s Zagreb Open, including a comprehensive defeat against American great Kyle Snyder, saw Iranian prodigy Amir-Ali Azarpira – gold medalist in the Croatian capital – emerge as the frontrunner for the Iranian 97kg slot in the French capital.
Yazdani, a gold winner in Rio 2016, will be eager to seek a third successive Olympic medal after his familiar foe David Taylor, who has a 5-1 head-to-head record against the Iranian, was stunned by fellow-American and reigning world under-23 champion Aaron Brooks in the U.S. Olympic trails in April and called time on his illustrious career on Friday.
“Taylor’s defeat had nothing to do with the decision on Yazdani, though I won’t deny that he might be even more motivated by his major opponent’s absence,” Dabir said, while he went on to praise American young gun Brooks.
“When someone beats the Olympic champion, you will have to count on him as a top contender,” said the Iranian wrestling chief.
A second Olympic gold will see Yazdani overtake Iranian taekwondo legend Hadi Saei as the country’s most-decorated athlete in the history of the Games.