U17 World Wrestling Championships:
Iran unimpressive but pips Uzbekistan to Greco-Roman title
Iran had only two finalists across 10 weight classes but still managed to lift the Greco-Roman team trophy at the U17 World Wrestling Championships in Athens, Greece.
A medal haul of one gold, one silver, and four bronzes saw Iran – represented by nine wrestlers in the Greco-Roman event – stand atop the team table with 125 points.
Uzbekistan impressed with four gold medals but had to settle for a runner-up finish with 118 points, after four of its wrestlers did not contribute points to the team title race.
Kazakhstan finished third with 113 points, with Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan – tied on 100 points – in fourth and fifth, respectively.
A 60kg bronze-medal contest on the final day, featuring Iran’s Abolfazl Zare’ and Humoyun Erkinov of Uzbekistan, proved crucial in the title race.
A victory for Erkinov would have seen Uzbekistan win the title, but Zare’ came out victorious 7-5 to keep Iran in contention with a fourth successive Greco-Roman trophy at the U17 Worlds.
Later on Wednesday, Amirsam Mohammadi made a quick work of Belarusian Kanstantsin Kasyan, who competed as a neutral athlete, to walk away with the ultimate prize in the 92kg class and help Iran jump from fourth to the top spot in the team table.
Mohammadi started the showdown right on the front foot and scored with three stepouts. Kasyan was then called passive and put in par terre as Mohammadi turned him twice and won the final 8-0 in one minute and 12 seconds.
Mohammadhossein Kazemi, meanwhile, bounced back from a 2-1 loss to Uzbekistan’s Behruzbek Valiev in the quarterfinals to rout Finland’s Matias Onnenlehto 9-0 in repechage before defeating Azerbaijan’s Yusif Ahmadli 4-3 for a joint-bronze in the 71kg event.
Elsewhere, Benyamin Khezli missed out on the podium in the 45kg contests after an 8-3 defeat against Vadim Tarelunga of Moldova in a third-place playoff.
Wedensday’s results came after Iran had collected one silver medal, through Yazdan Delrouz in the 110kg division, and two bronzes on the preceding night in the Greek capital.
Delrouz enjoyed an emphatic run 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.
Amirmohammad Hajivand recovered from a first-round 4-3 defeat against Uzbekistan’s Bunyod Hasanov, to finish his campaign with a consolation bronze in the 48kg contests, courtesy of superiority win (12-3) against Turkish wrestler Baris Soylu.
Amirreza Tahmasbpour also bounced back from a setback in his first outing – a 5-3 loss to Kyrgyzstan’s Alkham Abdirasulov – to finish his 55kg campaign with something to cheer about, hammering Indian Aditya Gupta 10-1 in a bronze-medal bout.
Meanwhile, Taha Nouri (80kg) and Amirmahdi Hajivand (51kg) finished their campaigns empty-handed, while Abolfazl Shiri was ruled out of the 65kg event after the host country refused to issue an entry visa for the young Iranian.
Despite a somewhat underwhelming campaign, Iran head coach Mohsen Sourian was thrilled to see his squad “display true Iranian fighting spirit” to defend the Greco-Roman title in Athens.
“Our nation was caught up in the imposed war with Israel, forcing us to cancel our training camp. We also missed out on the U17 Asian Championships [in June], which was a major setback to our preparations for the world event,” Sourian said.
“Abolfazl Shiri was unlucky to miss the competitions. I’m sure he would have been a favorite for the gold medal, given his experience and track record in the previous events as well as a favorable draw in Athens,” added the Iranian.
“I’m fully satisfied with all my members of the squad – even Amirmahdi Hajivand who was eliminated. They all gave their absolute best and displayed true Iranian fighting spirit on the mat. We could have won multiple gold medals, but inexperience in the final seconds and our wrestlers’ physical exhaustion eventually cost us dearly.”