Asian U20 Wrestling Championships:
Iran federation to review team’s performance after runner-up finish in freestyle
The Iranian Wrestling Federation (IAWF) said it will carry out a comprehensive review of the national team’s performance after missing out on the freestyle title at the Asian U20 Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.
Iran collected eight medals, including three golds, to finish runner-up in the team standings with 164 points – six behind Kazakhstan – failing to secure the freestyle crown for the first time since the revamped event, which also features the U15 age category, was introduced in 2024.
Sobhan Esmi (79kg), Abolfazl Shamsipour (86kg), and Abolfazl Mohammadnejad (125kg) claimed gold medals for Iran, while Amirreza Taimourizad and Mohammad-Mahdi Mamivand settled for silver in the 65kg and 74kg divisions, respectively.
Ali-Asghar Soltani (61kg), Sajjad Pirdayeh (70kg), and Amirhossein Khakpa (92kg), meanwhile, added three bronze medals to Iran’s haul across the 10 weight classes.
The overall outcome, however, was deemed a failure by the federation, which vowed to make major changes to the squad ahead of the upcoming U20 World Championships, scheduled to begin on August 16 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
While acknowledging that a runner-up finish “would be considered a respectable achievement in many sports,” the federation stressed that its objective “is to win the continental title at every age level.”
In a statement released on Sunday, the federation noted that the team competed without four of its key wrestlers but insisted that its technical assessment had identified several factors behind the failure to retain the Asian crown.
According to the statement, “frequent changes to the team’s strength and conditioning coach, overly cautious performances by some wrestlers, and the appointment of several coaches who did not meet the standards expected of the national team” were among the main reasons for the disappointing result.
The federation said it had repeatedly warned the coaching staff about those issues before the team departed for Thailand. Nevertheless, it added that the federation itself also accepts responsibility, emphasizing that its duty is to achieve the best possible results at every international event.
It announced that the performances of the coaching staff and all team members “will be thoroughly reviewed” in the coming days, with the coaches required to explain their decisions and overall performance. The federation also confirmed that any necessary changes to the coaching staff and the squad for the World Championships would be made “without hesitation.”
The statement further warned that wrestlers whose performances fell well below expectations would be excluded from national team training camps until further notice and, by federation decision, would not be sent to any international tournaments for the next year.
Describing the Asian Championships primarily as a preparation event for the season’s main objective, the federation reiterated that its ultimate goal is success at the U20 World Championships.
The federation concluded by pledging greater planning, supervision, and accountability as it seeks to address weaknesses and prepare the national team to challenge for the world title, stressing that all decisions will be made solely in the interests of Iranian wrestling.