U23 Wrestling World Championships:
Naqousi wins gold, Iran bags three Greco-Roman medals
Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers collected three medals, including a gold, across five weight classes at the U23 World Championships in Tirana, Albania.
Mohammad Naqousi defeated American Beka Melelashvili for the ultimate prize of the 82kg contests, while Danial Sohrabi and Shayan Habib-Zare’ added a couple of bronzes to Iran’s medal haul.
Naqousi jumped out to a 3-0 lead against the Georgian-born wrestler, courtesy of a passivity point and a correct throw without exposure. Melelashvili fought back in the second frame with a passivity point of his own.
The duo traded a pair of two-point maneuvers with action stemming from par terre. Melelashvili had the final minute from neutral to find a score, but Naqousi held strong defensively to secure a 4-3 victory and claim a second world age-group gold, following his under-20 triumph in 2019.
Melelashvili, meanwhile, became the first Greco-Roman medalist for the United States in the history of the competition.
In the 72kg contests, Soharabi recovered from a fall defeat against Armenian Shant Khachatryan in the quarterfinals to finish with a consolation bronze.
A 67kg gold medalist in the competition in 2022, Sohrabi first defeated Swiss Michael Portmann by superiority (8-0) in the repechage before outmuscling Georgios Barbanos of Sweden in emphatic fashion (9-0) to share the third podium with neutral athlete Imran Aliev.
Khachatryan went on to settle for the silver after a 3-1 loss to Georgian Giorgi Chkhikvadze in the final.
Habib-Zare’ began his 97kg campaign in despair, suffering an 8-0 defeat against Abubakar Khaslakhanau, but was given a second chance when the Belarusian, also representing the individual neutral athletes’ team, made it to the final showdown.
The Iranian beat Georigia’s Lasha Tvildiani 3-0 and then came out victorious 8-5 against Estonian Richard Karelson in a thrilling third-place bout.
Hayk Khloyan defeated Khaslakhanau 11-6 for the gold medal of the class, with Magomed Murtazaliev winning the other bronze.
Mohammad-Mahdi Gholampour was the other Iranian in action on the first day of the event, finishing empty handed in the 60kg contests following a 10-5 defeat against Azerbaijan’s Nihad Guluzade in the quarterfinals.
Alisher Ganiev of Uzbekistan won the 60kg gold, thanks to an 8-4 win against Dinislam Bammatov, with Guluzade and Pridon Abuladze of Georgia taking the bronze medals.
Ahmadreza Mohsennejad was to represent Iran in the 67kg event but will leave Tirana without a bout after a weigh-in failure.
Razzak Beishekeev of Kyrgyzstan came out on top against Diego Chkhikvadze of Georgia in the final showpiece, while Daniial Agaev and Polish Arslanbek Salimov won the two bronze medals of the class.