Wrestling World Championships:
Saravi reclaims 97kg title, Sohrabi bags consolation bronze
A memorable World Championships campaign continued for Iranian wrestling on Saturday as reigning Olympic champion Mohammad-Hadi Saravi grabbed the Greco-Roman 97kg gold in Zagreb, Croatia.
Danial Sohrabi, meanwhile, recovered from a last-eight heartbreak to finish with a consolation bronze in the 72kg event.
Earlier on the penultimate day of the competitions, Saied Esmaeili (67kg) and Alireza Mohmadi (87kg), who won the Olympic gold and silver medals last year, respectively, progressed to the final showpiece of their respective weight classes, while Mohammad-Mahdi Keshtkar suffered a last-four defeat (5-3) against South Korea’s Chung Han-jae to head into the bronze-medal bout in the 63kg division on his debut at the Wrestling Worlds.
Saturday’s results were enough to secure the Greco-Roman crown and a historic men’s team title double for the country of the final day’s outcome in Zagreb – a feat previously achieved only by the Soviet Union and Russia.
Drought ends
Saravi ended a four-year wait for the world title by scoring an early takedown and going on to defeat Russian Artur Sargsian, who competed as a neutral wrestler, 3-1 in the final showdown.
“In my opinion, this tournament wasn’t easy at all; it was one of the most exciting and diverse competitions I’ve ever been part of,” Saravi said. “There were new opponents, and some wrestlers reached the finals and repechage rounds that I honestly hadn’t expected. The level was much higher than I thought it would be.”
After winning the world gold in Oslo in 2021, Saravi had to settle for bronze medals at the 2022 and 2023 editions in Belgrade, falling in the semifinals on both occasions.
But he righted the ship for the Paris Olympics, where he defeated long-time Armenian rival Artur Aleksanyan in the final to add the gold to the Olympic bronze he won in Tokyo in 2021.
In Zagreb, while Aleksanyan and defending champion Gabriel Rosillo of Cuba, who defeated Saravi in the 2023 semifinals, fell by the wayside, Saravi marched into the final without pomp or drama, winning his matches by such scores as 4-0, 1-1 and 3-1.
“In this weight class, the champions are among the greats of wrestling: Artur Aleksanyan, Cuban Rosillo, and of course, my final opponent, Artur Sargsian, who is a very well-known and skillful wrestler,” Saravi said. “But with my preparation, I was able to execute my plans and win.”
His meeting with Sargsian in the final was a rematch of their first-round match at the 2021 World Championships, which Saravi won 6-4 en route to his first world gold.
On Saturday, the 27-year-old Saravi drew early blood when he used an arm drag to get behind and force Sargsian down at the edge for a 2-0 lead. He made it 3-0 with a passivity point, but was unable to turn Sargsian from par terre.
That left the door open for Sargsian, when he was put in par terre in the second period. But he also could not budge the Iranian, who then ran out the clock for the win.
“As we had planned with my coaches, even though some of my expected rivals didn’t make it to the later rounds, with the analysis we had done we were able to plan well and make it to the final,” added Saravi, who is also a three-time gold medalist at the Asian Championships.
“I had wrestled [Sargsian] twice before, and with the strategies we had, I managed to beat him. Thankfully, this time, too, I was able to execute my plans perfectly on the mat and win the match.”
Saravi reflected on coming up short at the two previous World Championships.
“I think in the two World Championships where I won bronze, I had some technical weaknesses,” Saravi said. “I was able to fix those before the Olympics and keep that level through this year’s Worlds.
“I hope I can keep improving for the upcoming tournaments and continue winning big medals.”
In the 72kg category, Sohrabi, who had beaten former world and Olympic champion Mohammadreza Geraei in the Iranian world trials, appeared in unstoppable form in the Croatian capital, beginning with back-to-back superiority victories. However, a controversial loss to Ibrahim Ghanem of France, in which the Iranian was disqualified for exceeding the four-minute bleeding timeout, cost Sohrabi a place in the semifinals on Friday.
Sohrabi still managed to bounce back to beat Armenia’s Gor Khachatryan and Kazakhstan’s Merey Maulitkanov in emphatic fashion to share the third podium with Abdullo Aliev of Uzbekistan.
“Thank God that I managed to win a medal for my country and will not return home empty-handed,” Sohrabi said.
“In my bout against the high-profile French wrestler, I suffered some hard blow to my head and face, which went unnoticed by the officials. However, I didn’t let that break my focus. I kept my motivation high and fought until the very end.”
“I came into this tournament with extra motivation for my brother, who is sick and having a tough time. I wanted to win this medal to make him happy, and to make my parents proud after they worked day and night for me all year long. I hope this small success brings them some comfort.”