‘Bright future’ ahead for Iranian weightlifting, says ex-world champ Baqeri
Former world champion Kourosh Bagheri believes a “bright future” lies ahead for Iran’s young weightlifting team, following the country’s success in ending an eight-year men’s title drought at the IWF World Championships in Førde, Norway.
A medal haul of one gold, four silvers, and one bronze saw the Iranian eight-man squad collect 387 points to beat North Korea (354pts) to the top spot in the men’s standing and secure only a second trophy in the history of the sport’s flagship international event on Saturday.
Alireza Moeini and Ali A’alipour won a gold and double silvers between them in the 94kg event, while young sensation Alireza Nasiri claimed a couple of silver medals in the 110kg class.
Former Olympic silver medalist Ali Davoudi, meanwhile, managed to win a snatch bronze in the superheavyweight class despite struggling with a shoulder injury on the final day of the competition.
The pinnacle of the Iranians’ campaign came in Thursday’s 94kg showdown, when Moeini lifted 182kg to set a new snatch world record for the weight class.
Nasiri, 20, also impressed by shattering two junior world records to pip former world and Olympic champion Ruslan Nurudinov of Uzbekistan to the C&J and total runner-up places.
“More important than the team’s title victory was the success of three young Iranians in finishing on the podium in their respective weight classes,” Baqeri told IRNA.
“The outcome was somewhat expected, though I had anticipated Ali A’alipour would finish with a total medal, but unfortunately, that did not materialize.
“Ali Davoudi also faced a difficult challenge. He was considered one of Iran’s main hopefuls for a medal but could only secure a single bronze,” added Baqeri, who won the 94kg snatch and total gold medalist at the 2001 World Championships.
On record-breaking performances by two Iranians, Baqeri said, “Moeini had already set a snatch world record in training in Tehran and replicated that feat on the world stage. He delivered an outstanding performance by completing all six of his lifts and securing the total silver. He pushed Bulgarian Karlos Nasar to his absolute limit.”
Reigning Olympic champion Nasar finished empty-handed in the snatch but bounced back to grab double golds, breaking the clean & jerk world record.
“Although Nasiri did not get the result he wanted in the snatch, he managed to stage a strong recovery in the clean and jerk. While many had predicted a C&J gold medal for him – a prediction I did not share – he still did a great job to win two silvers and post an excellent total, which is a commendable achievement at such a young age,” Baqeri said.
On what to expect from this group of young weightlifters, Baqeri said, “The team’s average age is very low, giving us a strong and promising age composition. Abolfazl Zarei is 19 and still eligible to compete at the junior level. Nasiri can also lift in this age category.
“This promising situation indicates that as we move forward, these young talents will only gain more experience and strength. We can expect to see them mature into more polished and powerful contenders on the global stage – at future World Championships, Asian Games, and the Olympic Games. The future is definitely bright for Iranian weightlifting.”
Iliya Salehipour (88kg) and Abdollah Beiranvand (79kg) were the other two Iranians in the men’s event, but were unfortunate to miss out on the podium despite posting some decent lifts.
Ayat Sharifi – winner of two Asian golds in May – was also unlucky to be ruled out of the +110kg contests after failing to recover from a knee injury.