Wrestling World OG Qualifier:
Sarlak undone as Iran fails to seal full freestyle squad for Paris
Iran’s hopes of sending a full six-man squad to the freestyle wrestling competitions in September’s Paris Olympics were dashed on Saturday after Alireza Sarlak fell short in the world qualification event in Istanbul.
Representing the country in the 57kg contests, the 2021 world silver medalist came out on top against Italy’s Simone Vincenzo Piroddu (4-2) and Georgian Roberti Dingashvili (9-3) but suffered a 7-2 loss to Rakhat Kalzhan in the quarterfinals and saw his campaign come to an end following the Kazakhstani wrestler’s last-four defeat.
The top three across the six weight classes secured their place in the French capital.
Iran will have five freestyle wrestlers in Paris, courtesy of top-five finishes for Rahman Amouzad (65kg), Hassan Yazdani (86kg), and Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) in last year’s World Championships, as well as successful campaigns by Younes Emami (74kg) and Amir-Ali Azarpira (97kg) in April’s Asian qualifiers in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Amouzad, reigning world champion Zare’, and Emami have been handed the Paris ticket by the Iranian coaching staff, while young prodigy Azarpira is all but guaranteed a place in the Games thanks to impressive performances in recent months – including a final victory over American great Kyle Snyder in the Zagreb Open in January.
However, the Iranian 86kg slot remains hanging in the balance as Yazdani, sidelined since last October with a shoulder surgery, only made his long-awaited return to training two weeks ago and will have his fitness assessed by the coaching staff when he competes in the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial tournament – starting June 6 in Budapest.
Alireza Dabir, the chairman of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, said this week that two-time world 92kg champion Kamran Qassempour – also considered for the country’s 97kg berth – remains “a plan B”, should Yazdani fail to fully recover from the shoulder problem.