Iran unveils men’s weightlifting squad for World Championships
Iran weightlifting head coach Behdad Salimi named a 10-man squad for the upcoming IWF World Championships – starting October 2 in Forde, Norway.
Former Olympic silver winner Ali Davoudi, who collected triple world medals last year, will headline the Iranian roster, chasing glory at the +110kg contest.
Joining Davoudi in the superheavyweight class is Ayat Sharifi, who will compete fresh off a double-gold-winning campaign at the Asian Championships in May.
Alireza Mo’eini and Ali A’alipour will be the Iranian contestants in the 94kg division, looking to build on an impressive run in major events over the past nine months.
The Iranian duo won three world medals between them last December, before collecting five medals – including triple golds – at the Asian event.
Iran will be represented by three weightlifters at the 110kg category.
Alireza Nasiri will be the Iranian to watch in the division, after the young prodigy made a clean sweep of three world junior golds in April.
Mahdi Karami will also be among the favorites in the class, having bagged the snatch and total bronzes at the previous edition in Manama.
Abolfazl Zare’ completes the Iranian trio in the 110kg contest, stepping onto the platform on the back of a snatch gold and double silvers at this year’s World Junior Championships.
Abodollah Beiranvand – an Asian snatch silver winner last year – will vie for success in the 79kg contest, while Amirmohammad Rahmati and Illiya Salehipour, who three Asian junior medals last year, will compete in the 88kg event.
Making his debut at the World Championships as the Iranian head coach, Salimi will hope to see his squad improve on last year’s edition, where the country collected 10 medals but managed only a single gold through Alireza Yousefi, who will miss the Forde event with a knee injury, in the superheavyweight clean & jerk contest.