U23 Wrestling World Championships:
Mohmedi wins gold, spearheads Iran’s three-medal haul in Greco-Roman
The second day of the U23 Wrestling World Championships in Las Vegas saw Iran’s Greco-Roman squad collect three medals, including one gold, across five weight classes on Tuesday.
Abolfazl Mohmedi headlined the medal hunt by claiming the ultimate prize in the 82kg class, while Mohammad Kamali and Mohammad-Hadi Seydi settled for bronze in their respective divisions.
Mohmedi defeated opponents from Georgia, Croatia and Russia – conceding a single point in the process – to set up a final clash with Maritk Petrosyan, before edging out the Armenian 2-1 to take his personal medal tally at the competition to two, having won bronze last year in Novi Sad, Serbia.
In the 67kg class, Kamali enjoyed an emphatic run to the semifinals, claiming three victories by technical superiority, but was no match for Russia’s Erzu Zakriev, suffering a 13-2 defeat.
The Iranian still managed to bounce back with a 6-0 win against Armenia’s Yurik Hoveyan to claim a consolation bronze, while Zakriev capped off his dominant run with an 8-0 triumph over Turkey’s Azat Sariyar in the final.
Seydi also finished on a winning note, recovering from a 4-1 loss to Ukrainian defending champion Yehor Yakushenko in the 97kg semifinals to defeat Kazakhstan’s Nurassyl Amanaly 8-0 in the bronze-medal bout. Yakushenko had also beaten the Iranian en route to the U20 world title last year.
Yakushenko was denied gold by Belarus’s Abubakar Khaslakhanau, who won the final 2-1 to avenge his defeat to the Ukrainian in the U23 European Championships in March.
Elsewhere, Iran’s Mohammad Ashiri and Ahmadreza Mohsennejad endured disappointing campaigns, suffering early exits from the competition.
Ashiri fell to an 8-6 defeat against Olivier Tomasz Skrzypczak in his opening bout in the 60kg class and missed out on a second chance to reach the podium after the Polish wrestler failed to advance to the final.
A bronze medalist last year, Mohsennejad, who also won bronze at the Senior Asian Championships in April, saw his campaign come to an end after a single bout. His 3-1 defeat to Shakhzod Kuchkorov was followed by the Uzbek wrestler’s loss in the next round.
Earlier in the day, Erfan Jarkani and Yasin Yazdi boosted Iran’s bid for a third successive Greco-Roman team title by reaching the finals in their respective weight classes.
Building on his U23 world bronze from last year, reigning senior Asian silver medalist Jarkani defeated Turkey’s Servet Angi 5-1 in the 63kg semifinals to set up a final showdown with Japan’s Manato Nakamura.
Also a silver medalist at the Senior Asian Championships, Yazdi beat Norway’s Martin Ljosaak 3-1 to advance to the 87kg final, where he will take on Kazakhstan’s Temirlan Turdakyn.
Meanwhile, reigning world U20 champion Armin Shamsipour suffered a shock 8-1 defeat to Vishvajit Ramchandra More in the 55kg quarterfinals but remained in contention for a medal after the Indian advanced to the final.
Ahoura Bouveiri was also handed a second chance in the 77kg repechage after Egypt’s Moustafa Hussein Alameldin, who defeated the Iranian 5-1 in the second round, reached the final.
The 130kg event, dominated by Iran’s Fardin Hedayati in the previous two editions, proved a disappointment for the country this time around, as Abolfazl Fat’hi – a world U20 bronze medalist last year – was beaten by Hungary’s Laszlo Darabos on criteria (1-1) to crash out in the round of 16.