UWW Ranking Series:
Emami beats Yazdani, seals Iranian 74kg spot in Zagreb
Younes Emami defeated Amirmohammad Yazdani in an all-Iranian final at the Ulaanbaatar Open to settle the debate on the country’s freestyle 74kg slot for September’s Wrestling World Championships in Zagreb.
The two wrestlers were joined by Hossein Abouzari in representing Iran at the third Ranking Series event of the season, with the Zagreb ticket on the line, according to the selection path unveiled by the national governing body of the sport prior to the tournament in the Mongolian capital.
While Abouzari suffered a fall defeat against Indian Jaideep Jaideep in the quarterfinals, Emami and Yazdani, who have four world medals between them, made it to Saturday’s showdown – a repeat of the final showpiece at the International Takhti Cup in Isfahan earlier in May, which Yazdani had won 7-4.
Iranian head coach Pejman Dorostkar refused to sit in any corner and his assistants did not give any instructions throughout the contest, the case in most bouts which involves qualification for a national team.
It was hardly a spectacular bout, lacking big moves and crafty scrambles. Emami took a 1-0 passivity lead at the break before executing a well-drilled defensive gameplan in the second period to secure a 4-3 victory.
While Emami did not celebrate the triumph, Yazdani failed to hold his tears back on the podium as he was awarded the silver medal.
“Amirmohammad is my friend and brother,” Emami said. “We train together a lot, so we’re pretty familiar with each other’s wrestling style. That’s why this match was a bit tough.”
“I had thought about it [defense] during practice and even throughout the day trying to fix my weaknesses,” he said. “I used to give away points too easily, but I had improved a bit here, and I hope I can keep getting better from this point on,” added the two-time world bronze medalist.
Emami is the sixth Iranian freestyle wrestler to a book a place in the world event.
Kamaran Qassempour defeated Abolfazl Rahmani in a domestic head-to-head in Tehran last week to secure the 86kg slot, while reigning world champion Amirhossein Zare’ (125kg) and Ali Mo’meni (57kg) won the Takhti Cup golds to punch the Zagreb ticket, joining Ahmad Mohammadnejad-Javan, Rahman Amouzad, and Amirhossein Firouzpour.
Mohammadnejad-Javan will be the Iranian 61kg wrestler, thanks to a gold-winning run at February’s Zagreb Open, as well as an Asian bronze in March.
Olympic silver winner Amouzad will chase a second world 65kg gold after domestic rivals Yassin Rezaei and Ali Khorramdel had below-par runs at the Ranking Series season-opener in February, while Firouzpour’s dominant campaigns at the Asian Championships and the Zagreb Open, convinced the Iranian coaching staff to pick him for the world 92kg contests.