IWF Youth and Junior Championships:
Iranian weightlifters eager to build on Asian success in Lima
Young Iranian weightlifters will be looking to carry their junior title-winning momentum from last year’s Asian championships into the upcoming IWF World Youth and Junior Championships – starting Thursday in Lima, Peru.
Iran collected a remarkable 50 medals across different categories in December’s Asian event in Doha, claiming the men’s junior title with eight golds, 15 silvers, and 12 bronzes.
More than 500 of the sport’s global talents will vie for success over a hectic six days in the Peruvian capital, where the youth and junior competitions will be staged concurrently for the first time.
Illiya Salehipour, who won two silvers and a bronze in Doha, will be joined by Amir-Mohammad Rahmati – a winner of three Asian youth medals – in representing the country in the men’s junior 89kg class.
Hamidreza Zarei and Amirhossein Sepah, who collected six medals – including three golds – between them in the Qatari capital, will also be among the Iranian junior hopefuls in Lima, when competing in the 96kg contests.
Having a combined six world and Asian junior medals under his belt, Abolfazl Zare’ will be among the favorites in the men’s 102kg event, with fellow-Iranian Amirmohammad Soleimani – a former Asian youth record holder – also fancying his chances for glory.
Alireza Nassiri will be the Iranian to watch in the 109kg class, having won two world junior golds in 2023, with Farhad Qolizadeh also hoping to have a decent campaign.
The men’s junior +109kg contests will see Tahan Ne’mati make his return to the world event following a triple silver-winning campaign two years ago, while Hamidreza Mohammadi-Tanha will be keen on building on his impressive performance in Doha, where he made a clean sweep of superheavyweight silvers.
Elsewhere in Lima, Hossein Yazdani will be the sole Iranian male contestants in the youth competitions, taking part in the men’s +102kg event, while Alma Hosseini (64kg), Reyhaneh Karimi (71kg), and Ghazal Hosseini (76kg) will represent the country in the women’s junior event.
Former Olympic champion Sohrab Moradi will be in charge of the Iranian men’s squad in Lima, with Hamideh Hosseini – a winner of a historic three golds at the 2022 Asian Championships – coaching the girls trio.