Amouzad, Zare’ fall short in freestyle finals
Iranian wrestlers Rahman Amouzad and Amirhossein Zare’ fell to defeats in their respective finals as the country’s freestyle squad failed to win a gold across the five weight classes at the Paris Olympics.
Having enjoyed an emphatic run toward Sunday’s final, Amouzad was stunned by Japanese Kotaro Kiyooka in the 65kg showdown, suffering a 10-3 defeat.
The setback came after Zare’ had also come short against familiar foe Geno Petriashvili of Georgia in a thrilling 125kg final on the preceding night at the Grand Palais Éphémère.
Trailing 10-1 at the break, the Iranian fought back to cut the deficit to a single point in the second round but it proved too little too late as Zare’ added a second Olympic medal to his three world medals, including double golds, as well as the bronze in the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Meanwhile, Amir-Ali Azarpira bounced back from a loss to eventual gold winner Akhmed Tazhudinov to round off his 97kg campaign with a consolation bronze, thanks to a 4-1 victory over American great Kyle Snyder.
Earlier in the freestyle competitions, Hassan Yazdani, struggling with a recurring shoulder injury in the final, had to settle for a second successive 86kg silver in the Olympics after a 7-1 defeat against Bulgaria’s Russian-born Magomed Ramazanov.
Younes Emami missed out on the 74kg podium following a technical-fall defeat against American Kyle Dake in the quarterfinals.