Superheavyweight rivalry to headline Takhti Cup
All eyes will be on the freestyle 125kg contests when the Takhti Cup gets underway in Isfahan, Iran, on Thursday, as two of the world’s best superheavyweights wrestlers in Amirhossein Zare’ and Amirreza Ma’soumi are the favorites to lock horns in a highly-anticipated final.
Iranian wrestlers will be joined participants from 10 other countries across different weight classes at the 45th edition of the annual event, named after late Iranian wrestling legend Gholamreza Takhti.
According to the pathway for the Iranian team trials, a gold medal in Isfahan will guarantee a place at September’s World Championships in Zagreb for Zare’, who is desperate to make up for his Olympic final loss with a third world gold in four years.
The road to the world event, however, will be tougher for Ma’soumi – a six-time world champion across different age groups since 2021, who also cruised to the Asian senior gold in March.
The wrestling prodigy must first win the Takhti Cup gold, and then face Zare’ in either a domestic head-to-head or an international tournament to secure a spot on the Iranian team.
Two-time world 92kg champion Kamran Qassempour will also be among the Iranians to watch in Isfahan as he is set begin his bid for a berth at the Los Angeles Games with participation at the 86kg Olympic class, where a gold medal will punch the Zagreb ticket for him.
The Takhti Cup will also serve as the first phase of the Iranian world trials in the 57kg, 70kg, 74kg, 79kg, and 97kg weight categories.
The Iranian Wrestling Federation confirmed last month that Ahmad Mohammadnejad-Javan, Rahman Amouzad, and Amirhossein Firouzpour have already been secured a spot at the UWW Worlds.
Mohammadnejad-Javan will be the Iranian 61kg wrestler in the Croatian capital, thanks to a gold-winning run in February’s Zagreb Open and an Asian bronze in Amman.
Amouzad, an Olympic silver medalist last year, has been given a shot at a second world 65kg gold after domestic rivals Yassin Rezaei and Ali Khorramdel had below-par runs at the Ranking Series season-opener in Zagreb.
Meanwhile, Firouzpour’s impressive run of results in recent months, which has seen him win the Asian and Zagreb Open titles, convinced the Iranian coaching staff to pick him for the world 92kg contests.