Ulaanbaatar Open Ranking Series:
Sohrabi wins all-Iranian final to secure Worlds spot
Greco-Roman wrestler Danial Sohrabi booked his place at October’s World Championships in Astana after rallying past his fellow Iranian, Mohammad-Javad Rezaei, in a thrilling 72kg final at the Ulaanbaatar Open on Thursday.
Earlier, on the opening day of the third Ranking Series event of the season, world silver medalist Payam Ahmadi cruised to the top prize in the 55kg class.
Both Sohrabi and Rezaei followed identical paths to the final, posting back-to-back superiority victories without conceding a single point.
In the final, Sohrabi was the first to go in par terre. Rezaei – silver medalist at April’s Asian Championships – did his best to turn Sohrabi twice and take a 5-0 lead. Sohrabi, who felt hard done by after settling for bronze in last year’s world championship, seemed unfazed despite falling behind.
When the second period began, he managed to earn the par terre position for himself. However, he turned Rezaei only once. When Sohrabi tried a throw, Rezaei managed to defend it, but the former was awarded a step-out, making the score 5-4.
Shortly after, Sohrabi brought down Rezaei for a takedown and took a 6-5 lead. He then turned Rezaei again to extend his lead to 8-5, which he defended to win the gold medal – his second in a row at the Ulaanbaatar Open.
Ahmadi, meanwhile, emerged as the most dominant wrestler of the day, outscoring his opponents 33-0 in four bouts to claim the gold medal in the Nordic bracket.
Ahmadi opened the day against Asian silver medalist Lalit of India and secured an easy 8-0 technical superiority win in one minute and 57 seconds.
In Round 2, Ahmadi took only 33 seconds to see off home favorite Davaabandi Munkh Erdene. He blocked the Mongolian’s body lock attempt for four points and threw him again for four more points. He took just 46 seconds to do the same to Sumiyabazar Munkhzaya – also from the host country – in Round 3.
Ahmadi’s final bout was against Türkiye’s Emin Cakir. The 20-year-old Iranian, who grabbed an impressive silver on his senior Worlds debut last year, pulled off two four-point throws from par terre to complete a 9-0 victory and win the gold.
“Payam delivered an outstanding performance today, defeating all four of his opponents in dominant fashion,” said Iran head coach Hassan Rangraz of the young prodigy, who also grabbed junior world and Asian golds last year.
“Securing four victories in a combined total of just five minutes underscored his exceptional technical level. The achievement was even more impressive given that he had been away from competitive action for nearly nine months, part of which was spent recovering from surgery, keeping him away from training.”
In Friday’s morning session, Mohammad-Mahdi Keshtkar progressed to the final of the 63kg event, thanks to a 9-0 semifinal rout of South Korea’s Choi Hyun-woong.
Keshtkar’s most significant win, however, came in the second round, where he defeated Asian silver medalist Erfan Jarkani 6-2 in an all-Iranian battle to punch his ticket for the World Championships, looking to improve on last year’s bronze in Zagreb.
With Sohrabi and Keshtkar joining Ahmadi and reigning world and Olympic champions Saeid Esmaeili (67kg) and Mohammad-Hadi Saravi (97kg), as well as Asian silver medalist Ali Oskou (77kg), world champion Gholamreza Farrokhi (82kg), and Alireza Mohmadi (87kg) – who has won consecutive world silver medals on either side of his Olympic silver at Paris 2024 – in the Iranian Greco-Roman squad for the Wrestling Worlds, the remaining spot up for grabs will be decided through a highly anticipated 130kg showdown featuring Amin Mirzazadeh and Fardin Hedayati at the International Takhti Cup, which begins on June 15 in Kerman.
Two-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Mirzazadeh will need a victory in a best-of-three contest against Hedayati, who is aiming for a breakthrough at senior level, having already collected three world titles across the under-23 and junior age groups.