UWW Ranking Series:
Babaei, Bazri bag golds in Ulaanbaatar to stay on selection course
Iranian freestyle wrestlers Fariborz Babaei and Ahmad Bzari walked away with the ultimate prize in their respective weight classes at the Ulaanbaatar Open to remain in contention with a place in the Iranian squad for September’s World Championships in Zagreb.
An International Takhti Cup champion in May, Babaei maintained his impressive form at the third Ranking Series event of the season by defeating Magomet Evloev of Tajikistan 4-0 to win the gold medal in the 79kg contests.
However, the debate over the Iranian 79kg slot for the world showpiece remains far from settled, as reigning Asian champion Mahdi Yousefi still fancies his chances of booking a Zagreb ticket – despite losing to Babaei in the Takhti Cup final – while four-time world medalist Mohammad Nokhodi recently entered the fray after recovering from a knee surgery.
Meanwhile, Bazri also built on a gold-winning run at the Takhti Cup to go all the way in Ulaanbaatar, outmuscling the host’s Gankhuyag Ganbaatar 8-0 in the final.
Standing between Bazri and a spot in Zagreb is Amirali Azarpira, who also underwent a surgery on his injured knee after claiming the Olympic bronze in Paris last summer.
Elsewhere in the Mongolian capital, Aliakbar Fazli and Mohammadali Amouzad were a dealt a massive blow in their bid to secure a national team spot after missing out on the top podium in the 70kg event.
Amouzad left the competition empty-handed, suffering a 10-6 loss to his fellow Iranian in the semifinals before a 7-5 defeat against Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir in the third-place contest.
Fazli, meanwhile, had to settle for a silver medal following a 6-0 loss to neutral participant Konstantin Kaprynov.
Seven Iranians have already secured a national team spot for September’s showpiece, including Younes Emami, who defeated Amirmohammad Yazdani in an all-Iranian 74kg final in Ulaanbaatar to remain on course for a third world medal.
Kamaran Qassempour came out victorious against Abolfazl Rahmani in a domestic head-to-head in Tehran last week to seal 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.