Copy in clipboard...
Asian Wrestling Ch’ships:
Mirzazadeh wins gold as Iran secures Greco-Roman title
Iranians bagged another four medals, including three silvers, on Tuesday to help the country secure the Greco-Roman team title regardless of the outcome in the other five weight categories.
Reigning world champion Mirzazadeh was in a league of his own in the 130kg class, completing a clean sweep of three superiority victories without conceding a point.
Elsewhere, Gholamreza Farrokhi, a world senior and under-23 gold medalist last year, was stunned by the host’s wrestler 11-4 in the 87kg final.
Erfan Jarkani and Ali Oskou also suffered final defeats against Kyrgyz opponents to settle for silver in the 63kg and 77kg divisions, respectively.
Mohammad Hosseinvand Panahi was the only Iranian to beat a wrestler from the host country on Tuesday, claiming a 7-1 win in the bronze-medal bout of the 55kg category.
The Greco-Roman competition will be followed by the freestyle event in the Kyrgyz capital, where the Iranian squad will look to retain the crown and complete a team title double for the country.
World champion Amirhossein Zare’ will be the wrestler to beat in the 125kg class, while Amir-Ali Azarpira will be one of the two favourites, alongside Olympic champion Akhmed Tazhudinov of Bahrain, in the 97kg division.
Kamran Qassempour, meanwhile, will be eager for a fresh start in 86kg, following a below-par run, by his standards, at the World Championships and the Islamic Solidarity Games last year, which saw him settle for two bronze medals.
Milad Valizadeh (57kg), Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan (61kg), Peyman Ne’mati (65kg), Sina Khalili (70kg), Amir-Mohammad Yazdani (74kg), Mahdi Yousefi (79kg), and Mohammad-Mobin Azimi (92kg) complete the Iranian 10-man roster in the freestyle contests.