Asian Beach Games:
Gold rush as Iran revels in water polo, wrestling glory
Iranians enjoyed a gold-laden run on the penultimate day of action at the Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China, grabbing top prizes in water polo and beach wrestling on Wednesday.
In men’s beach volleyball, however, the Iranian duo of Abolhassan Khakizadeh and Amirali Qalenoei settled for silver after a straight-set loss (21-15, 21-12) to the high-profile Qatari pair of Cherif Samba and Ahmed Janko. It marked the Iranian team’s second setback in Sanya against the Olympic bronze medalists.
Wednesday’s morning-session results saw Iran jump to third place in the medals table with seven golds and one silver, China has dominated the Games on home soil with 50 medals – including 22 golds – with Thailand, which has collected 10 golds, eight silvers, and six bronze medals, in the second spot.
Iran’s gold rush began with a hard-fought 3-2 water polo victory over China in the men’s final outing. After dropping the first set 2-1, Iran bounced back to win the next two sets 3-2 and 4-1. China leveled the scoreline with a fourth-set 3-2 win, sending the match to a shootout. Iran had the last laugh, prevailing 3-2 in penalties to finish atop the round-robin table with five wins in as many matches – securing the country’s first water polo gold in six editions of the Games.
“We came here with the goal of winning the gold medal, and this is the result of our long-term training,” said Iran’s Amin Qavidel. “China is a very strong and young team. Sanya has brought us good luck, and we appreciate the excellent organization by the host.”
In men’s beach wrestling, Iran stole the show with a clean sweep of four gold medals.
Aliakbar Zaroudi opened Iran’s account with an emphatic 3-0 victory over India’s Siddharth in the 70kg final. The second gold came at 80kg, where Ali Gholami pinned Muhammad Asad Ullah of Pakistan in the final.
The other final featuring Iranian and Pakistani wrestlers saw Amirhossein Kavousi defeat Muhammad Inam 3-0 in the 90kg showdown, refusing to let the former world champion settle into his usual defensive shell.
In the +90kg final, Seyyed Amirreza Sahraei beat China’s seven-foot-tall Da Lu 3-0, dashing the host nation’s hopes of winning at least one gold in the men’s division.
Represented by 57 athletes across 10 sports, the Iranian delegation had bagged two gold medals prior to Wednesday’s action at the multi-sport event, which concludes with the closing ceremony today.
Hassan Ajami got Iran off the mark by winning gold in men’s shot put on Sunday, followed by the men’s kabaddi team stunning India 44-31 to claim the top prize on Monday.