Wrestling World Championships:
Esmaeili, Saravi to spearhead Iran’s Greco-Roman squad
Reigning Olympic champions Saeid Esmaeili and Mohammad-Hadi Saravi will headline the Iranian Greco-Roman squad in September’s Wrestling World Championships in Zagreb, the national governing body of the sport confirmed.
Esmaeil and Saravi made a first international appearance since last summer’s Paris Games when they eased to the 67kg and 97kg titles, respectively, at the Asian Championships in Amman in late March.
Joining the duo in Hassan Rangraz’s 10-man team in the Croatian capital, will be world junior and under-23 champion Ali Ahmadi-Vafa (60kg), the Iranian federation announced, as well as Mohammad-Mahdi Keshtkar (63kg), who settled for a silver medal at the Asian event.
Below-par runs by Iman Mohammadi and former Olympic champion Mohammadreza Geraei in February’s Ranking Series event meant Danial Sohrabi will be the Iranian 72kg contestant at the World Championships, after he won the Asian gold in Amman.
An Asian silver medal was also enough for Alireza Abdevali – a world under-20 gold medalist last year – to secure the Iranian 77kg spot at the UWW Worlds, while Alireza Mohmadi will be looking to build on his Olympic silver when representing the country in the 87kg contests.
Meanwhile, three spots in the Iranian team remain up for grabs, which will be decided through domestic trials or upcoming international events ahead of the World Championships.
World silver medalist Pouya Dadmarz and world U17 champion Armin Shamsipour will vie for the 55kg spot when taking part at the Ulaanbaatar Open in May.
Mohammad-Ali Geraei will have to see off domestic rivalry from Asian champion Mohammad Naqousi and Gholamreza Farrokhi to have a shot at a second successive world 82kg title.
However, all eyes will be on the superheavyweight trials, where a three-way clash will see reigning world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Amin Mirzazadeh, world under-23 champion Fardin Hedayati, who also won the Asian gold in Amman, and Ali-Akbar Yousefi – a world gold medalist in 2021 – battle it out for a 130kg spot in Zagreb.