IWF World Championships:
Iran’s Davoudi vows to bounce back after injury-hit campaign
Iran’s Ali Davoudi vowed to come back stronger after a shoulder injury saw the superheavyweight weightlifter settle for a single bronze medal at the IWF World Championships in Førde, Norway, on Saturday. The former Olympic silver medalist clearly struggled with the injury throughout the men’s +110kg contest but still managed a 196kg lift, which placed him behind familiar rivals Varazdat Lalayan of Armenia (211kg) and Bahrain’s Gor Minasyan (205kg) in the snatch.
However, that proved to be his only successful attempt of the afternoon, as he bombed out in the clean and jerk, finishing 15th in the overall standings.
Lalayan (211-250-461) and Minasyan (205-242-447) completed a triple one-two, while South Korea’s Song Yeong-hwan bagged the C&J and total bronzes.
“I did not perform well today. I am not looking for excuses, but I had this severe pain in my shoulder, which made it impossible for me to win a medal in the total,” said Davoudi, who won the total and C&J silver, plus the snatch bronze in last year’s World Championships in Manama.
“I can only apologize to all the people of Iran for my poor performance.
“We worked extremely hard over the past year, and I thank everyone who supported me. I really don’t know why this shoulder pain won’t let go of me. I also had to cut seven to eight kilograms in the last few days. I will make amends for this failure in the future,” added the Iranian.
Meanwhile, Iran head coach Behdad Salimi praised Davoudi for his “tremendous effort” despite the injury setback.
“He had to receive an injection in his shoulder last week to compete here. Under different circumstances, a weightlifter of his caliber would not have let his Bahraini and South Korean opponents walk away with medals today,” added Salimi, who is a former world and Olympic superheavyweight champion.
Despite the final-day setback, the Iranian team ended its eight-year drought at the World Championships by lifting the men’s trophy for only the second time in the history of the sport’s flagship international event.
Salimi was a member of team, winning two medals, when Iran first won the men’s title in Anaheim, the United States – courtesy of five golds, four silvers, and five bronzes.
In Førde, the Iranian eight-man squad collected 387 points – thanks to one gold, four silvers, and one bronze medal – to finish atop the men’s standings, with North Korea (354) and the United States (318) in the following spots.
Alireza Moeini and Ali A’alipour bagged a gold and double silvers between them in the men’s 94kg event.
It was an all-Iranian one-two in the snatch, with Moeini walking away with the ultimate prize thanks to a 182kg lift – becoming Iran’s first world record holder since Sohrab Moradi – while A’alipour took the silver with 176kg.
Moeini then posted a 391kg tally to finish runner-up to Bulgarian sensation Karlos Nasar on the total podium.
Iranian prodigy Alireza Nasiri also enjoyed a memorable campaign in the 110kg class on Friday, winning double silver medals.
Nasiri recovered from a seventh-place finish in the snatch to shatter the junior world record with a 231kg effort and secure the C&J silver, before a total tally of 415kg – also a new high in the junior division – saw the 20-year-old Iranian pip former world and Olympic champion Ruslan Nurudinov of Uzbekistan to the runner-up place.