UWW Ranking Series:
Iran’s Mohsennejad wins consolation bronze in Greco-Roman event
The second day of the Greco-Roman competitions at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series tournament saw Iranian Mahdi Mohsennejad win a bronze medal in Tirana, Albania.
Mohsennejad got off to losing start in the 63kg event, suffering a 5-1 defeat against three-time world junior champion Kerem Kamal of Turkey.
However, the Iranian, who left the Paris Olympics empty-handed last year, bounced back to beat Kazakhstan’s Nurzat Marat by superiority (8-0), before defeating Romanian Razvan Arnaut 3-1 in the bronze-medal contest.
Mohsennejad shared the third podium with Baiaman Apilov of Kyrgyzstan, while Kamal went on to come out victorious against Doolotbek Kanbolotovich Choibekov, also from Kyrgyzstan, 10-0 in the final and walk away with the ultimate prize.
Mohsennejad’s medal came after his fellow-Iranian Alireza Mohmadi had won the 87kg gold medal on the preceding night in the Albanian capital.
Mohmadi was only awarded the top prize after Hungarian David Losonczi pulled out of the final showpiece with injury, but the pinnacle of the Iranian’s campaign came in the last-eight round, where he outmuscled reigning Olympic champion Semen Novikov 5-0, avenging the final loss to the Bulgarian in Paris.
Iran also collected six medals, including four golds, in the freestyle event of the second Ranking Series event of the season last week.
Ali Mo’meni (57kg), Rahman Amouzad (65kg), Kamran Qassempour (92kg), and Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) were the Iranian gold medalists, while Erfan Alizadeh settled for the 97kg silver and Younes Emami took the bronze in the 74kg class.