Wrestling World Championships:
Iran finds freestyle consolation as Yazdani, Amouzad salvage bronze
Hassan Yazdani and Rahman Amouzad gave the Iranian freestyle team some consolation at the end of two days of mixed results at the Wrestling World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, by claiming two bronze medals on Friday.
Widely regarded as among the favorites in their respective divisions in the buildup to the tournament, both wrestlers had to recover from last-gasp setbacks in their second bouts on the preceding day to finish their campaigns with something to cheer about.
Iranian wrestling great Yazdani, making his World Championships debut in the 97kg category, opened his bid for a fourth gold medal at the showpiece with a victory by technical superiority against South Korea’s Pureun Kim but was undone by Arash Yoshida in the round of 16.
Yazdani was leading 5-4 with less than 10 seconds remaining before Yoshida managed a go-behind for a 7-5 victory. Iran challenged the call, believing the Japanese wrestler had scored the takedown after the clock had run out, but the two-point score was confirmed on review.
Yazdani was given a second chance at a podium finish when Yoshida reached the final and made the most of it, storming to a 10-0 victory over India’s Vicky in the repechage.
Before the tournament, Iranian fans were hoping to see their national hero tested against two dominant forces in the weight class, American Kyle Snyder and Russia’s Abdulrashid Sadulaev. While neither of those showdowns materialized, Yazdani still set up a highly anticipated clash with reigning Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov in the third-place bout and rose to the occasion, beating the Bahrain wrestler, who was born in Russia, 5-0 – courtesy of four stepouts and a passivity point – to clinch an eighth world medal of his illustrious career, adding to his one gold and two silver medals at the Olympics.
“Thank God I managed to win a bronze and not return home empty-handed. I had set my sights on a different outcome, but it just was not meant to be. I hope to upgrade my medal at next year’s World Championships and the 2028 Olympics, and make my people happy,” Yazdani said after becoming the first wrestler in the history of the World Championships to win medals in four different weight categories. The feat dates back to 2015, when he won a silver medal in the 70kg category on his maiden appearance.
Snyder, meanwhile, went on to beat Yoshida on criteria (4-4) for his fifth world title, while Sadulaev defeated Poland’s Zbigniew Baranowski to claim the other bronze medal in the category.
“They’re just monsters,” Snyder said of Yazdani and Sadulaev, who was beaten by the American in the quarterfinals, after sharing the podium with the two wrestling greats. “They inspired me in many, many ways. They are a huge part of my life. They’re my friends, too.”
Relief for Rahman
Amouzad, meanwhile, got off to an emphatic start to his title defense in the 65kg category on Thursday, outmuscling Belgium’s Ayub Musaev and Turkey’s Ahmet Duman by technical superiority.
The Iranian, however, was a shadow of his ruthless best against Armenia’s Vazgen Tevanyan in the quarterfinals, and his hesitant approach ultimately cost him as the Armenian pulled off a major upset after being awarded a point in the dying seconds for what was deemed to be fleeing the hold by the Iranian in the closing four seconds. Iranian coaches again had their challenge rejected as Tevanyan won 3-2.
Amouzad bounced back to hammer Kazakhstan’s Ossimzhan Dastanbek 11-0 before edging out familiar rival Shamil Mamedov 5-4 to add a world bronze medal to his two golds from 2022 and 2025.
Amouzad and the other contenders in the division were handed a wake-up call ahead of the Olympics in two years after American prodigy Bo Basset – a world U20 champion in August – defeated Tevanyan 9-1 in the final to claim gold on his senior debut at the World Championships.
Zare’, Javan into finals
Earlier in the day, Iran’s Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan and Amirhossein Zare’ secured places in the finals of the 61kg and 125kg events, respectively.
A silver medalist last year, Javan was barely convincing throughout the day but still managed to set up a final showdown with Russian defending champion Zavur Uguev – a rematch of last year’s final – after beating Kazakhstan’s Assyl Aitakyn 3-1 in the semifinals.
Chasing a fourth world gold in five years, defending champion Zare’ again proved to be in a league of his own in the superheavyweight category, securing three victories by technical superiority without conceding a point, including a semifinal triumph over American Wyatt Hendrickson, to advance to the final, where he will face Russia’s Abdulla Kurbanov.
The World Championships, meanwhile, proved to be a tournament to forget for Iranian medal hopefuls Kamran Qassempour and Sina Khalili.
A two-time world champion in the 92kg category, Qassempour opened his campaign in style by defeating reigning Olympic champion Magomed Ramazanov of Bulgaria 5-3 but was stunned by lesser-known Kyrgyz wrestler Malik Shavaev in the round of 16, suffering a shock defeat by fall in the first period.
World U20 champion Khalili, meanwhile, defeated Uzbekistan’s Shakhzodbek Yarashev 8-0 in his first bout in the 70kg category before losing 6-1 to Mongolian top seed Tulga Tumur Ochir in the quarterfinals.