Weightlifting World Championships:
Iranians aiming to make their mark on global stage
Iranian weightlifters will look to make their mark on the global stage following a demanding campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games when the IWF World Championships get underway in Ningbo, China, on Monday.
Super-heavyweight duo Ali Davoudi and Alireza Yousefi will headline the eight-man men’s roster, with both expected to contend in the +110kg category.
Former world champion and Olympic silver medalist Davoudi will enter the competition on the back of a morale-boosting gold medal at the Asian Games last month, while Yousefi will also fancy his chances after making a strong return to action at the Asian Championships in May following an 18-month injury layoff. He set a world record to win clean and jerk gold, adding a snatch bronze and a silver medal in the total.
Former world champion Mirmostafa Javadi and Abdollah Beiranvand will compete in the 85kg category, while Ali A’alipour – also an Asian Games gold medalist – and Hamidreza Zarei will feature in the 95kg division.
In the 110kg category, Alireza Moeini will look to build on his impressive performance at last year’s World Championships, where he claimed snatch gold and total silver.
Joining Moeini in the category is Alireza Nasiri. The young Iranian set two world junior records on his way to winning clean and jerk gold and total silver last year but endured a disappointing Asian Games campaign, missing out on the podium.
Javadi and Beiranvand will be Iran’s first lifters in action, competing in Group A of the 85kg category with declared entry totals of 375kg. Colombia’s Yeison López leads the entry list with 390kg.
Javadi will be making his fifth appearance at the World Championships. His previous outing, in Manama, Bahrain, in 2024, ended in disappointment after he failed to register a successful clean and jerk, leaving him without a total.
In the 95kg category, A’alipour will compete in Group A with an entry total of 400kg, the highest among the participants in the division, while Zarei is scheduled to lift in Group B with a declared total of 380kg.
A’alipour finished fourth overall at the World Championships in Norway, recording 176kg in the snatch and 211kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 387kg. He claimed snatch silver and placed fourth in the clean and jerk.
Zarei, meanwhile, won clean and jerk gold in the 96kg category at the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, after lifting 209kg.
In the 110kg division, Nasiri will compete in Group A with an entry total of 420kg, while Moeini is scheduled to lift in Group B with 397kg. The category features 46 competitors, with Uzbekistan’s Akbar Djuraev leading the entry list at 425kg.
Nasiri enjoyed a successful outing at the World Championships in Norway, winning silver medals in both the clean and jerk and the total. His 231kg clean and jerk also set a world junior record.
Moeini also made his mark in Norway, winning snatch gold and total silver in the 94kg category after lifting 182kg in the snatch to establish a world record.
Davoudi and Yousefi will round off Iran’s men’s campaign in the +110kg division, both carrying declared entry totals of 455kg. Armenia’s Varazdat Lalayan tops the entry list at 460kg.
Davoudi won snatch bronze at the previous World Championships with a 196kg lift but failed to register a successful clean and jerk. Yousefi, meanwhile, claimed clean and jerk gold with 262kg and total bronze with 456kg at the 2024 World Championships in Manama.
In the women’s competition, Reyhaneh Karimi will compete in Group A of the 69kg category with an entry total of 247kg. The young Iranian will look to build on her historic Asian Games campaign, where she won bronze to secure Iran’s first-ever women’s weightlifting medal at the multi-sport event.
North Korea’s Hyang Kuk Song leads the entry list in the category at 270kg. Karimi finished ninth at the World Junior Championships last year.
Nasim Qassemi will make her World Championships debut in the 77kg division, competing in Group C with an entry total of 237kg. The category features 38 competitors, with China’s Peng Cuiting and Yang Qiuxia leading the entry list at 270kg.