U17 Wrestling World Championships:
Rezaei gives Iran Greco-Roman consolation with 80kg gold
Alireza Rezaei won the Greco-Roman 80kg gold medal, offering Iran some relief after a shaky start to its bid for a fifth consecutive team title at the U17 Wrestling World Championships.
Ali-Akbar Akou provided further consolation later on Tuesday by claiming bronze in the 110kg class, while three other Iranians missed out on podium finishes in their respective weight categories by the end of Day 2 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Rezaei enjoyed a comfortable run to the final, outscoring his opponents 26-1 across four bouts, but had to dig deep against Azerbaijan’s Isfahan Hasanov, rallying from behind to secure a nervy 2-1 victory over the home favorite.
Rezaei was put in par terre first but defended the position to keep Hasanov’s lead at 1-0 at the break.
In the second period, Rezaei got his chance from par terre and, although he could not execute a big move, lifted Hasanov and forced him out of bounds for a step-out point to take a 2-1 lead. Hasanov then needed at least one point to regain the lead on criteria, but the Iranian avoided any such situation to walk away with the gold medal.
Akou, meanwhile, bounced back from a 5-4 quarterfinal defeat to Ukraine’s Tymofii Prykhodko by beating Georgia’s Saba Takidze 7-3 before edging Russia’s Fedor Sukharev 1-1 on criteria in the bronze-medal bout.
Elsewhere, Ali Esmaeili – the U17 Asian champion in May – opened his 48kg campaign with an 11-1 technical superiority victory over Algeria’s Houssem Eddine Bouha but suffered a 6-1 quarterfinal defeat to Azerbaijan’s Omar Salmanov. He was denied a place in the repechage after the Azerbaijani failed to reach the final.
Vahid Ashiri, another reigning U17 Asian champion, suffered a shock first-round exit in the 55kg division after a 5-3 defeat to Georgia’s Giorgi Kedelidze.
Armin Qoli Galeh also saw his 65kg campaign end after a single bout, losing 7-4 to Armenia’s Vazgen Mnatsakanyan.
Meanwhile, the Russian squad, which is eligible to earn team points for the first time since 2021, built early momentum in its pursuit of a first Greco-Roman team title in nine years, collecting two gold medals through Soltan Iusupov (48kg) and Shamil Labazanov (65kg), as well as a bronze courtesy of Edem Paiziev in the 55kg category.