WrestleXian

Iran Puts 3 into Finals on Opening Day; Kang Knocks off Takahashi

Tuesday, April 23, 2019 - 11:47 By Ken Marantz

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Xi'an, CHINA (April 23) - Iran led the parade into the finals on the opening day of competition at the Asian Championships, while defending champion KANG Kumsong (PRK) cleared a major hurdle to put himself in position for a title repeat.

Iran had three of its five wrestlers in action in the freestyle competition make it to the gold medal matches, to be held later in the evening session. 

Reza ATRINAGARCHI (IRI) will face Kang for the 57kg gold, while Bahman TEYMOURI (IRI) at 79kg and Reza YAZDANI (IRI) at 97kg also went through the afternoon session unscathed.

Iran has sent basically an under-23 team, and coach Ebrahim MEHRANBAN said the first day’s performance lived up to expectations. “We predicted that,” he said. “They are younger than before.”

Teymouri will face Parveen RANA (IND) in the 79kg final, while Yazdani will take on Batzul ULZIISAIKHAN (MGL) at 97kg. 

Kang pulled off the win of the day when he scored a late takedown to defeat Paris 2017 world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN), 3-1, in the semifinals in a repeat of their match at the Asian Games. 

Both had scored a point off the activity clock, and Kang was ahead on criteria when Takahashi battled fiercely to score the go-ahead points. But instead it was Kang who countered the attack and came away with the victory.

India has a second wrestler in the finals in world silver medalist Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) at 65kg. He will face Savalbek OKASSOV (KAZ), one of two wrestlers from his country in the finals. 

Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) will face Kojiro SHIGA (JPN) in the 70kg final. 

Results

Freestyle

57kg (12 entries)
Gold – Reza ATRINAGARCHi (IRI) v KANG Kumsong (PRK)
Bronze – Kumar RAVI (IND) v Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Bronze – Hikmatullo VOHIDOV (TJK) v Makhmudjon SHAVKATOV (UZB)

Semifinals
Reza ATRINAGARCHi (IRi) df. Makhmudjon SHAVKATOV (UZB), 2-1
KANG Kumsong (PRK) df. Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN), 3-1

65kg (16 entries)
Gold – Savalbek OKASSOV (KAZ) vs Bajrang BAJRANG (IND)
Bronze – Haji Mohamad ALI (BRN) v KIM Han Song (PRK),
Bronze – Pelman BIABANI (IRI) v Sirojiddin KHASANOV (UZB)

Semifinals
Savalbek OKASSOV (KAZ) df. KIM Han Song (PRK), 4-4
Bajrang BAJRANG (IND) df. S. KHASANOV (UZB) by Fall, 3:00 (12-1)

70kg (16 entries)
Gold – Kojiro SHIGA (JPN) v Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Bronze – Abdullrahman IBRAHIM (QAT) v YUAN Shaohua (CHN)
Bronze – Balyr BORJAKOV (TKM) v Yones EMAMICHOGAEI (IRI)

Semifinals
Koljiro SHIGA (JPN) df. YUAN Shaohua (CHN), by TF, 14-3, 5:04 
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ) df. Yones EMAMICHOGAEI (IRI) by TF, 12-2, 3:53

79kg (10 entries)
Gold – Bahman TEYMOURI (IRI) v Parveen RANA (IND)
Bronze – Yuta ABE (JPN) v Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ)
Bronze – Olbek NASIROV (KGZ) v LIN Zeping (CHN)

Semifinals
Bahman TEYMOURI (IRI) df. LIN Zeping (CHN) by Fall, 3:44 (12-2)
Parveen RANA (IND) df. Galymzhan USSERBAYEV (KAZ), 3-2

97kg (11 entries)
Gold – Batzul ULZIISAIKHAN (MGL) v Reza YAZDANI (IRI)
Bronze – Magomed MUSAEV (KGZ) v Alisher YERGALI (KAZ)
Bronze – Satywart KADIAN (IND) v GAO Haobin (CHN)

Semifinals
Batzul ULZIISAIKHAN (MGL) df. GAO Haobin (CHN) by TF, 10-0, 1:04
Reza YAZDANI (IRI) df. Alisher YERGALI (KAZ), 9-3

2026 World Championships

Hedayati Beats World Champ Mirzazadeh to Claim Iran's World Team Spot

Wednesday, June 17, 2026 - 10:33 By Vinay Siwach

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KERMAN, Iran (June 16) -- World champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) decided to skip the second bout of the best-of-three series against Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI), ending his hopes of defending his world title this year.

Hedayati, who has been knocking on the door of Iran's world team for more than two years, defeated Mirzazadeh, 5-1, in the opening selection bout at 130kg to secure a spot on Iran's Greco-Roman team for the 2026 World Championships, to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 24 to November 1.

Mirzazadeh still had a chance to claim the spot if he won the remaining two bouts, but he chose not to continue in the series, effectively conceding the berth to Hedayati.

Hedayati scored on a passivity point, two pushouts and a two-point go-behind. Mirzazadeh's only point came from passivity as he failed to score from par terre.

"I respect Mirzazadeh a lot as he is a world champion," Hedayati told UWW. "But we worked a lot for one year to beat him."

In the selection bout last year, Hedayati hoped to hang on for a 1-1 criteria victory but Mirzazadeh scored a par terre turn to win 3-1. Hedayati switched his strategy this year and did not wait for the par terre position. He even asked for a standing restart when Mirzazadeh was called passive.

"Last year, I waited for the second period to win 1-1, but now I started to push right off the whistle," he said. "My plan was to push him out because I can do it. When I got passivity advantage, I asked for a start in standing."

Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI) defeated Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI), 5-1.

The 22-year-old Hedayati, who hails from Amol, the same town as 125kg freestyle world champion Amirhossein ZARE (IRI), will be making his senior World Championships debut in Astana as part of a strong Iran team that features three champions among seven returning medalists.

Zare was present in Kerman to support and coach Hedayati, who calls the Freestyle wrestler 'a brother'.

"I train with Zare because of our weight classes and he came here for my match," he said. "Outside of the mat, we run together, go for hiking, cross country and share a lot of time together to discuss wrestling. We always talk about winning the gold medal together, especially at the Olympics."

The Olympics are still two years away, but Zare and Hedayati can both win gold at the World Championships in Astana.

Hedayati, despite his debut, will enter as the favorite at 130kg. He has already won golds at the U20 and U23 World Championships, the Asian Championships and Ranking Series. He has registered wins over all major 130kg wrestlers including Riza KAYAALP (TUR), Oscar PINO (CUB), Pavel HLINCHUK (BLR), among others.

His only international loss came in 2022 in the U20 World Championships final, 6-4, against Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) that he has since avenged.

"I am training with Ghasem REZAEI (2012 London Olympic champion at 96kg) to improve my par terre offense so I can be a complete wrestler. My defense in par terre is good," he said.

In other weight classes, Iran will be bringing seven medalists including three champions. Olympic champion Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) will be at 67kg and Hadi SARAVI (IRI) at 97kg. Both are defending world champions along with Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) who will be at 82kg.

The returning silver medalists are Payam AHMADI (IRI) at 55kg and Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) at 87kg, while Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI) at 63kg and Danial SOHRABI (IRI) at 72kg are returning bronze medalists.

Former U20 world champion Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI), who finished 17th last year, will look to win a medal for his team along with Ali OSKOU (IRI) at 77kg who will be making his World Championships debut.

Iran's Freestyle team for the 2026 World Championships will be selected on Friday, June 19 with Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) and Amirali AZARPIRA (IRI), both at 97kg. 

Iran's Greco-Roman Team for 2026 World Championships

55kg: Payam AHMADI (IRI)
60kg: Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
63kg: Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
67kg: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
72kg: Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
77kg: Ali OSKOU (IRI)
82kg: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
87kg: Alireza MOHMADI (IRI)
97kg: Hadi SARAVI (IRI)
130kg: Fardin HEDAYATI (IRI)