SAEDNEWS: Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team won one gold, two silver and one bronze medal in the first four weight classes at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana on Sunday.
According to Saednews, Gholamreza Farokhi captured gold at 82kg, defeating Turkey’s Saricicek 5-1 in the final. He had previously beaten Hungary’s Zoltan Levai 6-0 by fall, Moldova’s Mihail Bradu 9-0 and Russia’s Gadzhiev 3-3.
Payam Ahmadi claimed silver at 55kg after victories over America’s Nouri (10-1), India’s Lalit (9-0) and Kazakhstan’s Iskhar Kurbayev (7-1). However, he lost 3-1 to Azerbaijan’s world champion Eldaniz Azizli in the final.
Ali Ahmadvafa also secured silver at 60kg after a heartbreaking final against Japan’s Koto Gomi. Despite leading 7-1, Ahmadvafa was pinned and had to settle for second place. Earlier, he had defeated Germany’s Abdolmohammad Papi (9-1), Romania’s Rezvan Arnat (8-0) and Uzbekistan’s Alisher Ganiev (8-3).
Ali Esko won bronze at 77kg, recording victories over Lithuania’s Cepauskas (11-0), Kyrgyzstan’s Yrysbek Maksatbek uulu (12-1) and Hungary’s Robert Fritsch (5-1). He then lost 2-0 to Azerbaijan’s Sanan Suleymanov in the semifinal before defeating Uzbekistan’s Nekibov 4-3 in the bronze-medal match.
Greco-Roman wrestling competition will continue on Monday, with the remaining weight classes set to take place.
