Khateri wins gold as Iranians bag four medals in int’l wrestling event
Ahoura Khateri headlined Iran’s medal hunt on the second day of action at the Champions international wrestling tournament in Antalya, Türkiye, by grabbing gold in the freestyle event.
A former world and Asian cadet champion and silver medalist in last year’s U20 Worlds, Khateri walked away with the top prize in the 61kg weight class thanks to a victory over Ali-Asghar Soltani in an all-Iranian showdown on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Mohammad-Mahdi Mamivand, who had finished empty-handed in the 79kg class the previous day, settled for silver in the 79kg category, while Amirhossein Khakpah finished with a consolation bronze in the 92kg class to take Iran’s freestyle tally to five medals, following Danial Tavakkoli’s 97kg bronze on Friday.
Unlike the first day of the Greco-Roman contests, Iranians missed out on the podium in their respective events, as Amirreza Naqibi (60kg) as well as 72kg contestants Mohammad Kazemi and Ahmadreza Mohammadian crashed out in the early stages, while Mohammad-Mahdi Derakhshan suffered defeat in the third-place bout of the 87kg division.
Reigning world cadet champion Amirsam Mohammadi had claimed the Greco-Roman 97kg gold on Friday, while Mohammadreza Gholami took the silver in the 67kg class, with Alireza Amiri (55kg) and former world under-17 gold medalist Amir-Mahdi Saeidi-Nava (77kg) adding a pair of bronze medals.
The three-day tournament featured under-20 wrestlers from global powerhouses of the sport, including Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, Kyrgyzstan, and Georgia.