Iran Wrestling

Iran's Tokyo Olympic Lineup Set

Wednesday, June 16, 2021 - 14:22 By Ali Feizasa

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TEHRAN, Iran (June 17) --- Iran finished the '16 Olympic Games with five medals (one gold, one silver and one bronze in freestyle and two bronze in Greco-Roman).  From the five Rio Olympic medal winners, superstar Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) is the only returning Olympic representative. The other ten will experience their first Olympics in Tokyo. 

"The Greatest," Yazdani has the chance to make history in Iran by winning his second gold medal in Olympic Games.

Iran line-up for Tokyo Olympic Games:

ATRI

Men’s Freestyle:
57kg - Reza ATRI 
After the retirement of Hassan RAHIMI, Reza Atri became the number one wrestler in Iran at 57kg. Atri earned the Olympic spot for Iran after he placed fifth at '19 World Championships in Nur-sultan. The '19 Asian champion defeated youngster Rahman AMOUZAD KHALILI Khalili in the team trials and was selected for Olympic Games.

65kg- Morteza GHIASI 
Amir Mohammad YAZDANI secured Iran's ticket to Tokyo at the Asian Olympic Qualifier, but Yazdani lost to Morteza GHIASI and will miss the Olympic Games.  Ghiasi, a '21 Asian bronze medalist, beat Yazdani by fall in the team trials and earned the right to represent Iran at 65kg.

74kg- Mostafa HOSSEINKHANI 
Iran's coaching board decided to send two 74kg wrestlers to the Poland Open to determine their 74kg team member. Hosseinkhani, the '16 world bronze medalist and Younes EMAMI, a '19 world bronze medalist at 70kg, competed in Poland but didn’t meet each other.

It was Emami who earned the Olympic spot for Iran at the Asian Qualifier, but he fell to Khadzhimurad GADZHIYEV (AZE) while Hosseinkhani succeeded to beat the Azeri, 3-0, in their semifinal mee

SIDE NOTE: Hosseinkhani holds five Asian medals -- including two gold (2014 & 2016) -- and one world bronze medal (2016).

yazdani

86kg- Hassan YAZDANI
Iranian superstar Hassan Yazdani has aimed to be the first Iranian wrestler in history to obtains two Olympic gold medals. But one of Yazdani's toughest rivals is not only inside of Iran -- but he's inside of his town, Juybar! Kamran GHASEMPOUR, the two-time Asian champion and two-time U23 world champion, competed against Yazdani in the team trials. But, like last year, Yazdani downed Ghasempour, 5-3, and will represent Iran at 86kg.

The 27-year-old Yazdani has five world and Olympic medals in his collection ('16 Olympic gold, two world gold medals ('17 & '19), one world silver medal ('15), and one world bronze medal ('18).

97kg- Mohammad Hossein Mohammadian
Earning the Olympic quote was only the start for Iran's 97kg wrestlers. They had a difficult national trial at the Poland Open to determine the spot. Three Iranian contenders were looking for that 97kg Olympic. They were '14 world bronze medalist Mohammad MOHAMMADIAN, three-time world medalist Alireza KARIMI and '21 Asian champion Ali SHABANI. 

Mohammadian grabbed the Tokyo ticket by defeating both of them and by winning gold in Poland.

125kg- Amir Hossein Zare
Like 74kg and 97kg, the same selection process was followed in Poland at 125kg between Amir ZARE and Amin TAHERI.

Zare, a U23 world champion, had a brilliant performance and captured gold while Taheri was eliminated after falling to the Egyptian wrestler. So, 21- year-old Zare received the Olympic spot and will represent Iran at heavyweight in Tokyo.

Nejati

Greco-Roman:
60kg- Alireza NEJATI 
Nejati, the 23-year-old, was a newcomer at the '19 World Championships but by winning the bronze medal, he introduced himself to the 60kg weight class. Nejati tightened his place in the Iranian GR lineup as captured gold medal in at the Ukranian tournament.

67kg- Mohammadreza GERAEI
Mohammadreza Geraei earned the 67kg Olympic spot for Iran by winning gold amongst a couple of past world medalists, RYU Hansu (KOR) and Armen VARDANYAN (ARM). The strong performance from the '19 U23 world champion convinced head coach Maohammad BANA to select him for Tokyo Olympic Games.

77kg- Mohammad Ali GERAEI 
The older brother is happy to see his younger brother beside him at the Olympic Games. Two-time world bronze medalist Mohammad Ali qualified for Tokto by winning a bronze medal in Nur-Sultan. Meanwhile, the trial for Iran 77kg Olympic spot was at the Ukrainian Tournament, where Geraei defeated Amin KAVIANINEJAD, 4-2, in the final match to receive a ticket to Tokyo.

Now, the Geraei brothers have the chance to make history by winning medal in Tokyo.

97kg: Mohammad Hadi SARAVI
The Poland Open acted as a team trial for at 97kg and 130kg. At 97kg, Mohammad Hadi Saravi, the one who achieved gold at the Asian Olympic Qualifier, met Iranian rival Mehdi BALI in the Poland Open finals earned his spot in Tokyo with a 3-0 win.

Amin

130kg- Amin MIRZAZADEH
At heavyweight, Amir GHASEMI placed fifth in Nur-Sultan to earn Olympic spot, while Ali Akbari YOUSEFI succeed to win gold at the '21 Asian championships but none of them represent Iran in Olympic Games.

During the Poland Open,  Ghasemi was eliminated but Yousefi and Amin Mirazazadeh advanced to the final bout. 

Mirzazadeh, the young and motivated '18 junior world champion, celebrated his Olympic license by winning the match, 3-1.

#wrestlebishkek

Asian Championships 2026 Day 1 Greco-Roman Highlights

Sunday, April 5, 2026 - 19:41 By Ken Marantz & Vinay Siwach

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (April 6) -- For the first time, the Asian Championships will be held in two-day format. The edition in Bishkek will begin with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and then Freestyle. Five Greco-Roman weight classes -- 55kg, 63kg, 77kg, 87kg and 130kg -- are in action on Monday.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW

The semifinals will begin at 18:00 local time

55kg
SF 1: Huoying SHI (CHN) vs. LALIT (IND)
SF 2: Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB) vs. Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)

63kg
SF 1: Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM) vs. Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ)
SF 2: Erfan JARKANI (IRI) vs. Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB)

77kg
SF 1: Ali OSKOU (IRI) vs. AMAN (IND)
SF 2: Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB) vs. Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ)

87kg
SF 1: Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) vs. Nursultan TURSYNOV (KAZ)
SF 2: Sunil KUMAR (IND) vs. Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)

130kg
SF 1: Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) vs. Minseok KIM (KOR)
SF 2: Yuta NARA (JPN) vs. Rafael TSITSUASHVILI (UZB)

13:10: World champion Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) begins his Asian title defense with a 10-0 win over Roman KIM (KGZ) and advance to the semifinals. He will face Minseok KIM (KOR)

13:03: Returning bronze medalist Yuta NARA (JPN) gets the winning score with a slow-motion gut wrench in the second period, prevailing on last-point criteria 3-3 over two-time Asian U23 silver medalist Jokhar UZAROV (KAZ) to advance to the 130kg semifinals.

12:58: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) gets a gut wrench to the back upgraded to a 4-point move upon his opponent's challenge, giving him a 10-0 victory over two-time bronze medalist Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB) and moving him a step closer to a second straight gold, this time up at 87kg after winning at 82kg last year.

12:57: World bronze medalist Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ) with some big throws and a fall against Dovletmyrat BAYRAMOV (TKM) at 87kg in just 30 seconds. Zhanyshov vs Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI) final will be a treat.

12:50: Sunil KUMAR (IND), the last Indian to win a Greco gold when he did on home soil in New Dehli in 2020, reeled off two gut wrenches from par terre in the second period for a 5-1 victory over Shichang ZHENG (CHN) and a place in the 87kg semifinals. Kumar is also going for his fourth career Asian medal.

12:42: Kaisei TANABE (JPN), last year's champion at freestyle 65kg looking to make history with a victory at Greco 63kg, minimized the points scored by Aftandil TAALAIBEK UULU (KGZ), but failed to get enough of his own and came out on the short end of a 4-3 score. Taalaibek Uulu had the first chance in par terre, but even though he lifted Tanabe off his feet, he could only get a 1-point throw out of it. Taalaibek Uulu then got in on a bear hug and lifted Tanabe again, but only got a takedown out of that situation to lead 4-0 at the break. Tanabe got a chance at par terre and hit a gut wrench to cut the gap to 1, but could not pull out the win.

12:32: Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB), aiming to improve on his two bronze medals from 2023 and 2025, rips off four straight rolls from par terre and he's into the 55kg semifinals with a 10-0 win over Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI). The Iranian side pushed the challenge button before the first roll, looking for a leg foul, but the scoring was upheld.

12:25: Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB), a bronze medalist in 2024, makes short work of Amro SADEH (JOR), storming to a quick 9-0 win to earn a semifinal date with Makhmudov.

12:23: There cannot be a better way to find a way to win a Greco-Roman bout that a five-point throw! AMAN (IND) does exactly that in his quarterfinal against Halishan BAHEJIANG (CHN) at 77kg. Aman was down 4-1 but got on a duckunder and locked Bahejiang and completes a perfect throw for five points and wins 6-4

12:20: Ali OSKOU (IRI), Zagreb Open Ranking Series champion at 77kg, defends from par terre twice, against Yeonghun NOH (KOR) and he does that well, once with 25 seconds remaining to win 5-2 and advance to the semifinals.

12:18: Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) with another spectacular throw as he defeats Kaharman KISSYMETOV (KAZ) 9-1 to gain a place in the semifinals. Makhmudov is put on the bottom of par terre, but wiggles his way out and gets behind for a takedown. Then the fun starts, as he hits a high-flying 4-point throw to lead 6-1. In the second period, Makhmudov gets the top position, and he quickly executes a gut wrench that ends the proceedings.

12:10: Roman KIM (KGZ) gets the home crowd going, getting four straight rolls from par terre to knock off Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL) 9-0 at 130kg. Batbayar is one of a few wrestlers who will be doing the Greco-Freestyle double in Bishkek — he's the Asian U23 champion in freestyle!

12:08: Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI), the reigning world champion at 82kg, has moved up to the Olympic weight of 87kg and gets off to a good start, overwhelming Muhammad SULTONZODA (TJK) 9-0 in less than two minutes.

12:05: Hyunwoong CHOI (KOR) survives a battle against Huangsheng WU (CHN) at 63kg. He was leading 11-6 when Wu scored a huge four-pointer with 11 seconds remaining to make it 11-10. But the last desperate attempt ended with Choi getting two points and a 13-10 win

12:02: Islomjon BAKHRAMOV (UZB), an Asian champion in 2019 and world bronze medalist in 2023, is looking to regain the magic up a weight at 63kg. He cruises through his opening match, handily defeating  Rayan HAWSAWI (KSA) 8-0.

11:51: Hajiali HOSSEINVAND (IRI), winner at the Zagreb Ranking Series tournament, advances at 55kg with a 4-0 victory over Nurzat KABDYRAKHIMOV (KAZ). Hosseinvand chalks up three points in the first period, then adds a stepout in the second.

11:41: Local star Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) gets the tournament off to an exciting start with a 4-point bear hug en route to a 7-3 victory over a spunky Isami HORIKITA (JPN) in the opening match at 77kg. Makhmudov, a two-time Olympic medalist and two-time world champion aiming for his fourth career Asian gold, used a bear hug to power Horikita to the mat, then added a 2-point roll for 6-1 lead. In the second period, Makhmudov got the passivity point, but when he tried a gut wrench from par terre, Horikita stepped over for a 2-point exposure. But that was the end of the scoring and Makhmudov was safely through. 

11:15: The Asian Championships will get underway in Bishkek with Greco-Roman. Five weight classes with local hero Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) in action as well.