Sharifi tips Iran for superheavyweight glory at IWF World Championships
Iranian weightlifter Ayat Sharifi said he is optimistic about a successful superheavyweight run for the country at the IWF World Championships, starting October 2 in Forde, Norway.
Sharifi will be one of the two Iranians in the +110kg category, coming off an impressive campaign at May’s Asian Championships in Jiangshan, China, where he claimed double golds in the clean & jerk and total, as well as a bronze in the snatch event.
Joining Sharifi in representing the country in the superheavyweight class in Forde will be former Olympic silver medalist Ali Davoudi, who won triple medals – including double silvers – in last year’s world event in Manama.
The two Iranians have registered a joint-third total entry record of 430kg for the upcoming World Championships, trailing Bahrain’s Gor Minasyan and Armenian Varazdat Lalayan by 30 and 20 kilograms, respectively.
“We’ve been in the national team training camp for a long time now. Thank God, I’m in a good form and I managed to post some decent results in the Iranian league contests. I hope we can also set some good records at the World Championships,” Sharifi, who recently lifted 206kg in snatch and 256kg in C&J in the league, told Mehr News Agency.
“Of course, we hadn’t yet reached our peak condition during the league as we were still in the middle of intense training,” added the Iranian, who believes his numbers will still be good enough for a medal at the World Championships.
“We will definitely reach the peak level of fitness that the coaching staff has planned for, before the world event gets underway.
“The world record totals are almost the same as the numbers we have already posted. The overall level of competition has dropped slightly following [Lasha] Talakhadze’s retirement. However, the winning totals were in this same range last year in Manama. With the totals we have achieved, we are in a good position to win a medal in Forde,” Sharifi said.
Sharifi is still warry of the competition from Olympic silver medalist Lalayan and Minasyan, who won four world medals between them last year.
“The World Championships have always been a tough competition. A weightlifter’s mind and body must be completely prepared in every way to post big lifts. I hope the gold and silver medals in the superheavyweight division go to the Iranians.
“Of course, we face serious competitors from Armenian and Bahraini weightlifters, though Lalayan is more of a contender in the snatch event rather than clean & jerk. Given that both Ali Davoudi and I are strong in the clean & jerk, we will be able to compete with them in the total at the World Championships.”