Yazdani vs. Azarpira to headline Iran’s freestyle trials for World Championships
All eyes will be on a highly anticipated 97kg showdown when Hassan Yazdani and Amirali Azarpira face off in a best-of-three series for a place in Iran's freestyle squad for October's Wrestling World Championships in Astana.
With seven wrestlers having already secured their spots for the Kazakh capital, the remaining three places in the 74kg, 92kg and 97kg divisions will be decided at the national team trials, held on the sidelines of the International Takhti Cup in Kerman.
Despite their combined international success, both Yazdani and Azarpira will enter the trials looking to bounce back from disappointing outings in their most recent major competitions.
Sidelined for 18 months by a shoulder injury he sustained in his 86kg final defeat at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Yazdani – winner of a national-record 10 world and Olympic medals – marked his return to the mat with two emphatic victories on the final day of the Iranian Wrestling Premier League last December.
However, the decorated Iranian received a harsh reality check at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event in February, raising doubts over his pursuit of an elusive second Olympic gold medal at Los Angeles 2028.
Yazdani appeared to be back to his best in the Croatian capital, cruising to three technical-superiority victories in the morning session to reach the final. He looked in control early in the title bout, taking a 2-1 lead into the break against Stephen Buchanan, only for the American to storm back with a dominant second-period display and secure a shock 13-3 victory. The defeat marked the first technical-superiority loss of Yazdani's illustrious career.
Azarpira, meanwhile, enjoyed an impressive 2025 campaign, adding a world silver medal to his Paris Olympic bronze before claiming gold at the Islamic Solidarity Games. However, April's Asian Championships proved one to forget for the 24-year-old, who settled for silver after a 4-0 defeat to Japan's Arash Yoshida in the final.
With Russian great Abdulrashid Sadulaev, American world champion Kyle Snyder and Bahrain's Olympic gold medalist Akhmed Tazhudinov all expected to feature in a star-studded 97kg field, whoever emerges victorious from Friday's trials will be looking to launch a statement campaign in Astana ahead of the Olympic Games two years from now.
The other two divisions being contested in the Iranian trials also boast plenty of international pedigree, with all four wrestlers having won medals across various age groups and senior-level events in recent years.
In the 74kg division, Younes Emami and Amirmohammad Yazdani, who share eight senior world and Asian medals between them, will square off in a rematch of last year's trial at the Ulaanbaatar Open. Emami came out on top on that occasion to secure a place at the World Championships, though he ultimately fell short of the podium in Zagreb after losing the bronze-medal match.
Amirmohammad Yazdani also endured a disappointing Asian Championships campaign by Iranian standards, finishing with bronze after a quarterfinal defeat to eventual champion Yoshinosuke Aoyagi of Japan.
The 92kg category, meanwhile, has developed into one of the country's most compelling domestic rivalries, featuring Amirhossein Firouzpour and Mohammad-Mobin Azimi.
A winner of five age-group world titles since 2019, Firouzpour defeated Azimi to earn a place at the 2025 World Championships, where he marked his debut at the global showpiece with a bronze medal.
Azimi responded in impressive fashion, capturing the world under-23 title later that year before claiming gold medals at both the Zagreb Open and the Asian Championships during the 2026 season.
The winners of Friday's deciders will join reigning world champions Rahman Amouzad (65kg) and Amirhossein Zare' (125kg), alongside Milad Valizadeh (57kg), Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan (61kg), Sina Khalili (70kg), Mohammad Nokhodi (79kg) and two-time world champion Kamran Qassempour (86kg) in Iran's 10-man squad for the World Championships. The defeated wrestlers, meanwhile, will have an opportunity to represent the country at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September.