Iran trials for World Championships:
Ghassempour secures 92kg spot; Geraei stunned by Sohrabi
An action-packed day in Iran trials for the Wrestling World Championships in non-Olympic weight categories – starting October 28 in Tirana – saw Kamran Ghassempour seal the freestyle 92kg spot in emphatic fashion.
In the Greco-Roman contests, former world and Olympic champion Mohammadreza Geraei fell to a shock defeat against Danial Sohrabi and missed out on the 72kg slot.
Ghassempour showed no signs of the groin injury, which sidelined him on different spells over the past 12 months, on his return to action in Tehran on Monday as he cruised to a 7-1 victory over Amirhossein Firouzpour – a winner of four world age-group titles and the Asian senior champion in 2022.
The dominant force of the 92kg class in 2021 and 2022, Ghassempour was eager to add the Olympic glory to his already-impressive medal haul but stood behind fellow-Iranian Amir-Ali Azarpira, who went on to win the bronze in Paris, in the pecking order of the 97kg class and will now be looking to win a third world gold medal in his familiar territory.
Geraei, meanwhile, was dealt a major blow in embarking on a new chapter in his career.
The 28-year-old was once tipped to dominate the 67kg class for years following his back-to-back Olympic and world crowns in 2021, but his form diminished over the following two years, as he settled for the world silver in 2022 before laboring to the bronze in the 2023 edition.
He then missed the chance to defend his Olympic title after comprehensive defeats against Saied Esmaeili in the Iranian trials and when the young prodigy took the Games by storm to win the gold, Geraei, who had been clearly struggling with massive weight losses before every tournament, was convinced to move up to the 72kg division.
His hopes of a flying start in the new weight class, however, ended in despair against Sohrabi, who had beaten Mohammadreza Rostami 7-3 earlier in the day.
Geraei looked to be back to stellar form when he took a 7-0 lead in the early stages against the former world under-23 champion but Sohrabi managed to reduce the deficit to four points in the second period.
Geraei was still in a comfortable position before Sohrabi performed a last-ditch flying squirl move with 12 seconds left on the clock and won the bout 8-7 to punch his ticket for the Albanian capital.
Meanwhile, Geraei’s older brother Mohammad-Ali came out on top in the 82kg event – held in a round-robin format featuring six wrestlers – and will fancy his chances of improving on his three world bronze medals in Tirana.
Geraei began his campaign with a 6-3 defeat against Mohammadreza Mokhtari – Asian champion in 2022 – but bounced back to beat Shahin Badaghi 5-0 to make it to the semifinals.
A two-time Asian silver winner, Geraei then came out 7-3 winner against Abbas Mahdizadeh to set a rematch with Mokhtari in the final, which he won 4-3 to secure his place in the Iranian squad.