25th Summer Deaflympics:
Greco-Roman glory as Iran claims nine medals on Day 7
Greco-Roman wrestlers Abuzar Rabizadeh and Meysam Qabsheh-Dezfuli headlined Iran’s medal hunt on Day 7 of the Tokyo Summer Deaflympics by capturing gold in their respective events on Saturday.
Having defeated Azerbaijan’s Islam Rzayev by technical superiority in the semifinals, Rabizadeh was awarded the 97kg gold after Ukraine’s Andrii Kosov withdrew from the final due to injury.
Earlier in the day, Qabsheh-Dezfuli overcame Russian and Ukrainian opponents to reach the 87kg showdown, before outmuscling Armenia’s Narek Hamlet Nikoghosyan 10-2 for the ultimate prize.
Mahdi Bakhshi, meanwhile, had to settle for silver in the 67kg category following an 11-1 defeat against Kazakhstan’s Andrey Samarin in the final.
Iran added more Greco-Roman medals as Sadeq Abolvafaei (60kg), Mohammad Zara’atpisheh (77kg), and Mohammadreza Sha’bani (130kg) all secured a consolation bronze.
Elsewhere at the multi-sport event, Morteza Rezasefat claimed silver in the men’s poomsae in taekwondo, with Maryam Khodabandeh matching the feat in the women’s competition.
The individual silvers marked the second medal for the two Iranians, after they had teamed up to win bronze in the mixed event earlier on Saturday.
Saturday’s results took Iran’s medal count to 15 in Tokyo.
Ali Salahshour (-66kg), Hossein Allahkarimi (-90kg), and Masoud Rastegar (+100kg) secured a third-place finish in the men’s judo team event, thanks to a 2–0 victory over Türkiye, having also claimed bronze in their respective weight classes.
Iranian shooter Mahla Samiei finished third in the women’s 10m air pistol competition and was also part of the duo – alongside Bijan Ghaffari – that settled for bronze in the mixed pair event.
Iran is represented by 83 athletes – including 19 female contestants – competing in football, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, athletics, karate, taekwondo, shooting, judo, bowling, badminton, table tennis, swimming, and beach volleyball at the 25th edition of the Summer Deaflympics.
Iran achieved its best finish in the medals table at the previous edition in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, coming fourth with 14 golds, 12 silvers, and 14 bronzes.