Iran targets wrestling glory at Asian Beach Games
Iran’s national beach wrestling head coach Mohammad Naderi has set his sights on a glorious campaign at the 6th Asian Beach Games, which will kick off on Wednesday in Sanya, China.
“We aim to achieve the best possible results and raise the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Naderi said ahead of the competition.
Naderi noted that Iran’s wrestlers have reached 70 to 80 percent readiness after several training camps in Iran and one week of fine-tuning in China. “We have prepared well,” he added.
But the coach warned of strong opposition. “Bahrain has four Russian-born wrestlers in its squad. Pakistan and India are also among the favorites in this sport and hold numerous competitions in their countries. We should not underestimate them.”
Naderi expressed gratitude to the National Olympic Committee for ensuring a smooth departure despite challenging circumstances at home.
He added: “I hope the entire delegation achieves favorable results, and we witness Iran’s flag raised at this event.”
Iran will be represented by 57 athletes across 10 sporting events – including beach wrestling, beach volleyball, beach handball, beach soccer, jiu-jitsu, beach kabaddi, athletics, 3x3 basketball, sport climbing, and water polo – at the Games, which will resume after a decade, following Da Nang 2016 in Vietnam.