Household names lined up for National Wrestling Championships
Kamran Qassempour’s bid for a berth in next year’s Wrestling World Championships will begin with participation at the National Championships.
Those wrestlers who failed to win a medal at the Paris Olympics and last month’s World Championships will have to take part at December’s national event to have a shot at a place in the Iranian freestyle squad, according to the selection process for major international tournaments in 2025, which was unveiled by the sport’s governing body in the country this week.
Two-time world gold medalist Qassempour made his long-awaited return to action in October’s world event in Tirana but missed out on the 92kg podium after his last-four setback against Russian sensation Abdulrashid Sadulaev was followed by a 6-2 loss to American great David Taylor in the third-place bout.
Double world bronze winner Younes Emami will also have to participate at the National Championships after his freestyle 74kg campaign in Paris came to an end against American Kyle Dake in the quarterfinals.
Alireza Sarlak, a former world and Asian silver medalist, also left the French capital empty-handed due to a weigh-in failure in the 57kg class and will be in action at the flagship domestic competition.
Rahman Amouzad, Amirhossein Zare’, and Amir-Ali Azarpira – the Iranian medal-winning trio at the Paris Games – as well as Mohammad Nokhodi, who won a 79kg bronze in the Albanian capital, will join the latter stages of the Iranian trials.
Joining them in being exempt from the National Championships are Ali Mo’meni, Ebrahim Khari, Abbas Ebrahimzadeh, Ali Khorramdel, Ali Rezaei, Mahdi Yousefi, Abolfazl Rahmani, Amirhossein Firouzpour, Mahdi Hajiloueian, and Amirreza Ma’soumi – Iranian medalists at the world junior and under-23 championships – as well as 2023 world cadet champion Sina Khalili and two-time world silver winner Amirmohammad Yazdani.
‘Mental breakdown’
Pejman Dorostkar, the head coach of the Iranian freestyle team, believes a “mental breakdown” cost Qassempour in his bout against Taylor last month.
Qassempour, who stood behind Azarpira in the pecking order for the Iranian 97kg slot at the Paris Olympics, looked to be back to top form in his familiar 92kg territory when he eased past opponents from Japan, Turkey, and Moldova.
Awaiting Qassempour in the last-four round was two-time Olympic champion Sadulaev, who was chasing a sixth world gold in Tirana.
Qassempour looked to have done enough for a famous victory before the Russian scored a four-point takedown with four seconds left on the clock to secure a 5-3 win.
“Kamran had been out of action for months with an injury before the competitions and did not have proper training. Sadulaev is an all-time great in the sport and was the clear favorite in the semifinal,” Dorostkar said, adding: “Qassempour still came up with the right gameplan against Sadulaev and delivered a brave performance. He would have won the bout if it wasn’t for his single mistake as well as Sadulaev’s higher experience in the closing seconds.”
“Kamran suffered a mental breakdown after the semifinal setback and couldn’t sleep all night. We tried to lift his spirits for the bronze-medal contest, but to no avail, and the mental strain ultimately got the better of him against Taylor.”