U17 World Wrestling Championships:
Delrouz wins heavyweight silver as Iran bags three Greco-Roman medals
Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Yazdan Delrouz settled for a silver medal in the 110kg weight class at the U17 World Championships in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday.
The Iranian enjoyed an emphatic run prior to the final showpiece, not conceding a single point in three bouts, but was unfortunate to give away a three-point lead at the break an lose on criteria (3-3) to Indian Yardeep Yardeep.
The final setback summed up a disappointing campaign for the Iranian Greco-Roman squad, which headed into the event as the three-time defending world champion, across six weight categories.
Amirmohammad Hajivand recovered from a first-round 4-3 defeat against Uzbekistan’s Bunyod Hasanov, who went on to win the gold, to finish his campaign with a consolation bronze in the 48kg contests.
Hajivand beat Kyrgyzstan’s Zhanarbek Seiitov 7-4 in a thrilling repechage battle before defeating Turkish wrestler Baris Soylu by technical superiority (12-3) for a joint-bronze alongside American Michael Rundell.
Iranian Amirreza Tahmasbpour also bounced back from a setback in his first outing – against Kyrgyzstan’s Alkham Abdirasulov (5-3) – to finish his 55kg run with something to cheer about.
Tahmasbpour was given a second chance for a medal following comfortable victories over China’s Zongyao Wu (8-0) and Hungarian Balint Kazinczy (11-1) before he came out on top against Aditya Gupta by superiority (10-1) to add a second bronze to Iran’s medal haul.
Abdirasulov, meanwhile, went on to claim the gold, thanks to a 4-1win against Nurali Askar of Kazakhstan in the final, with Tajikistan’s Makhdi Barotov taking the other bronze of the class.
Elsewhere in the Greco-Roman competitions, Abolfazl Shiri suffered a first-round loss to Bulgarian Kristiyan Petkov to finish empty-handed in the 65kg category.
Representing Iran in the 80kg division, Taha Nouri also missed out on the podium following a 3-1 loss to Nurislam Oskonbaev of Kyrgyzstan in the third-place bout.
There was further disappointment for Iran in the 51kg class, as Amirmahdi Hajivand crashed out in the round of 16, courtesy of a 10-1 loss to Islam Kurbanov of Kyrgyzstan.