Esteghlal Qom crowned Iranian GR Premier League champion
Esteghlal Qom claimed the title at the Iranian Greco-Roman Premier League, thanks to an emphatic 8-2 victory over Naft-o Gaz Zagros-e Jonoubi in the final showpiece in Tehran on Thursday.
Hossein Bijani got Esteghlal off the mark with a superiority win (8-0) over Alireza Amiri in the 55kg contest, before Alireza Nejati made it 2-0 by defeating Hossein Javidi 3-1 in their 60kg clash.
Mohammad-Javad Aboutalebi then stunned former world champion Meisam Dalkhani 7-2 in the 63kg showdown to extend Esteghlal’s advantage.
World U23 bronze medalist Ahmadreza Mohsennejad (67kg) outmuscled Mohammad Kamali 9-0, and Iman Mohammadi — the 72kg champion at October’s U23 Worlds — made quick work of Iman Bahmani (10-1) to put Esteghlal within a single win of the team triumph.
However, Esteghlal’s Amir Abdi — silver medalist at last month’s Islamic Solidarity Games — suffered a 2-1 defeat to former Asian champion Amin Kavianinejad in the 77kg bout, before Mohammad Mokhtari’s 3-1 win over reigning continental gold medalist Mohammad Naqousi in the 82kg match gave Naft-o Gaz a lifeline.
Naft-o Gaz’s hopes for a comeback were ultimately dashed in the 87kg bout, where Jamal Esmaeili defeated Mohammadhossein Ostadmohammad 8-2 to secure the title for Esteghlal.
Four-time Asian champion Nasser Alizadeh (97 kg) and Morteza Alghousi (130kg) capped off Esteghlal’s title run with comfortable victories over Mahdi Bali (7-1) and Mohammad Kazemi (8-0), respectively, in the two dead rubbers.
Earlier in the day, Ra’ad Padafand Artesh edged Azad University of Khuzestan 48-46 — with both teams claiming five victories — to finish third.
Mohammad Hosseinvand Panahi (55kg), Pouya Nassrpour (60kg), Hossein Asadi (67kg), Hojjat Rezaei (72kg), and Rasoul Garmsiri (87kg) secured wins for Ra’ad, while Mohammad Janqoli (63kg), Aliasghar Samdaliri (77kg), Seyyed Mohammad-Mahdi Miri (82kg), Mohammad-Sadeq Abdollahi (97kg), and Seyyed Abolfazl Mirzadeh (130kg) earned Azad University’s victories.