Iranians claim five medals in Vehbi Emre tournament
Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers collected five medals, including one gold, at the Yaşar Doğu, Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan International Tournament in Antalya, Türkiye, on Thursday.
Amirreza Moradian headlined Iran’s medal hunt on the first day of event by winning the ultimate prize in the 97kg weight class, thanks to a final win against his Turkish opponent.
Meanwhile, Reza Bahmani defeated Ali Hajivand in an all-Iranian 63kg semifinal but eventually settled for silver after a final loss to the host wrestler.
Mohammad Arjmand also suffered a final setback against his Turkish opponent to add a second silver to Iran’s medal count in the 82kg division.
Kianoosh Shamshiri and Mahdi Kamali shared the bronze medals in the 55kg category following consolation victories over Turkish wrestlers in the third-place contests.
Omid Bahmani and Kia Rostami were the other Iranians in action on Day 1, missing out on the podium in the 72kg class.
The tournament serves as the second phase of Iran’s selection process – following last month’s National Championships – for April’s Asian Championships, as well as the World Championships and Asian Games in September.
The two-day Greco-Roman competition will be followed by the freestyle event, with 11 Iranian wrestlers competing across eight weight classes.
Reza Mo’meni, who claimed the national title in late December, will be joined by world U20 silver medalist Ahoura Khateri in the 61kg weight class. Morteza Hajmollamohammdi will compete in the 65kg division despite suffering a final defeat to Peyman Ne’mati at the National Championships in Tabriz.
Ali Rezaei – a gold medalist at the 2024 U20 World Championships – will feature in the 74kg category alongside Ali Karampour, who won a world junior bronze medal two years ago in Pontevedra, Spain.
Erfan Alizadeh, a silver medalist at last year’s Ranking Series event in Tirana, Albania, and former world U20 champion Abolfazl Babalou will represent Iran in the 97kg division. Abolfazl Mohammadnejad will compete at 125kg as he looks to build on his world U23 gold medal from October.
Amir Parasteh (57kg), Mohammadhossein Norouzian (86kg), and Javad Fat’hkhani (92kg) are the other Iranians in the freestyle event.