Zagreb Open Ranking Series:
Jarkani grabs Greco-Roman gold, Dalkhani settles for bronze
The opening day of the Greco-Roman contests at the Zagreb Open saw Iranian wrestler Erfan Jarkani cap his 63kg campaign with a gold medal, while former world champion Meisam Dalkhani finished with bronze on Friday.
A world junior and under-23 bronze medalist in 2024, Jarkani overcame Kazakhstan’s Saifulla Kurman (10-1), Uzbekistani Khusniddin Olimboev (9-1) and Moldova’s Vitalie Eriomenco (3-1), before defeating India’s Chetan Chetan 8-4 in a thrilling final at Arena Zagreb.
With the opening Ranking Series event of the season serving as the second phase of Iran’s team selection process for major events later in the year, the gold medal secured the 22-year-old a place at April’s Asian Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Meanwhile, Dalkhani, who beat Uzbekistan’s Islomjon Bakhramov 2-0 in the quarterfinals, was outclassed 14-5 by Chetan in the semifinals, but recovered to hammer Kazakhstan’s Dastan Zarlykhanov by technical superiority (8-0) and claim a shared bronze medal alongside Eriomenco.
Elsewhere, Iran’s Mohammad Kamali and Ahmadreza Mohsennejad endured disappointing runs in the 67kg category.
Kamali bounced back from a last-16 defeat (6-4) to Georgia’s Diego Chkhikvadze by edging former European champion Murat Firat of Türkiye 5-4 in the repechage, before falling 3-2 to Japan’s Katsuaki Endo in the bronze-medal bout.
Mohsennejad’s campaign ended in the qualification round after the 21-year-old – winner of the 2024 world junior title and a world under-23 bronze medalist last October – suffered a 9-0 rout at the hands of Uzbekistan’s Oybek Sharibjonov.
The Iranian duo’s results mean compatriot Saeid Esmaeili is all but guaranteed a shot at a second successive World Championships gold in Manama, Bahrain, in October.