Wrestling World Championships:
Ruthless Rahman aiming for redemption against Japanese Kiyooka
As if freestyle wrestler Rahman Amouzad needed more motivation to chase a second world gold when the World Championships get underway in Zagreb on Saturday, the Iranian will be driven by a desire for revenge, looking to avenge last year’s heartbreak against Japan’s Kotaro Kiyooka at the Paris Olympics.
A world champion in 2022, Amouzad lived up to his nickname, ‘Ruthless’, on his way to the final showpiece in the French capital, securing three superiority victories without conceding a single point.
Fresh off emphatic wins against the 2023 and 2024 world gold medalists Ismail Musukaev and Islam Dudaev, Amouzad looked to be the ultimate favorite for the Olympic glory, only to be stunned by the low-profile Japanese who pulled off a sensational 10-3 victory at the Grand Palais Éphémère.
Thirteen months on, Amouzad and Kiyooka will headline the 65kg contests in Zagreb as the number one and two seeds in the draw, meaning the two will not cross paths before the final showdown.
Joining Amouzad and Kiyooka in the 65kg mix are Russian European champion Ibragim Ibragimov, competing as a neutral athlete; Armenian Vazgen Tevanyan, who won a world bronze in 2023; Russian-born Frenchman Khamzat Arsamerzouev – beaten by Ibragimov in the European final – as well as Puerto Rican Sebastian Rivera, a bronze medalist in Paris.
Elsewhere in Zagreb, Iran’s Amirhossein Zare’ and Kamran Qassempour will also be looking to bounce back from their setbacks at major events in 2024.
Reigning world superheavyweight champion Zare’, who was undone by Georgian giant Geno Petriashvili in the Olympic final, will be the wrestler to beat in the 125kg class.
Meanwhile, Qassempour – a two-time world 92kg champion – will be after glory in the new 86kg territory, having missed out on the world podium in Tirana after back-to-back losses to two wrestling greats in Russian Abdulrashid Sadulaev and American David Taylor.
Having recovered from a torn ligament injury, two-time world under-23 champion Amirali Azarpira will be back in 97kg action for the first time since the Paris Games, aiming to build on his impressive Olympic bronze. However, Bahrain’s Akhmed Tazhudinov, who won the gold in Paris, will be the favorite to retain his world title, with American Kyle Snyder and Georgian Givi Matcharashvili also tipped for a place on the podium.
Mohammad Nokhodi had also been sidelined with injury since winning a consolation bronze at the World Championships last October, but Iranian head coach Pejman Dorostkar was still convinced to give him a shot at a fifth world medal in the 79kg class after Fariborz Babaei Asian champion Mahdi Yousefi failed to impress throughout the Iranian team trials over the past 12 months.
Amirmohammad Yazdani will represent the country in the 70kg class, looking to improve on his two silver medals from 2021 and 2023, while two-time world bronze winner Younes Emami will be eager to bounce back from an underwhelming Olympic campaign in Paris, where he was outclassed by American Kyle Dake in the quarterfinals.
World under-23 bronze medalist Ali Mo’meni (57kg) and Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan (61kg) – an Asian bronze medalist in March – complete the 10-man freestyle roster, as Iran will chase a first freestyle team trophy since 2013.
The Iranian team finished runner-up to the United States in 2022 and 2023, before placing third in last year’s edition, which featured only four non-Olympic weight classes.