Four Iranians among leaders in UWW Rankings
Four Iranian wrestlers led their respective weight classes in the latest UWW Rankings, which was released following the conclusion of the Muhamet Malo tournament in Tirana, Albania.
Rahman Amouzad (65kg) and Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) topped their freestyle categories after walking with ultimate prize in the second Ranking Series event of international season last week.
Reigning Olympic champions Saeid Esmaeili and Mohammad-Hadi Saravi, meanwhile, stood atop the Greco-Roman 67kg and 97kg rankings respectively, despite missing the competition in the Albanian capital.
In other Greco-Roman weight classes, world superheavyweight champion Amin Mirzazadeh (130kg) – also a gold medalist in Tirana – stood second to Cuban great Mijaín López, who announced his retirement after winning a fifth successive Olympic gold last year, while Mohammad-Ali Geraei is second in the 82kg category, following Hungarian Erik Szilvássy, who was beaten by the Iranian in the final showdown in last October’s World Championships.
An Olympic silver medalist and gold winner in Tirana, Alireza Mohmadi as well as world silver winner Pouya Dadmarz were also the second best in the Greco-Roman 87kg and 55kg rankings respectively, while Hassan Yazdani followed Bulgarian Olympic champion Magomed Ramazanov in the freestyle 86kg class.
Kamran Qassempour, who won the gold on return to his favorite freestyle 92kg class in Tirana, is third in his category, following Russian sensation Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Georgian Miriani Maisuradze.