TEHRAN (January 24) -- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI), 2016 Olympic Champion at 74kg, went undefeated at 86kg this week at the Takhti Cup needing only 7 minutes and 27 seconds to dispose of his first three opponents. It was Yazdani's first appearance after Olympic Games at his new weight.

Yazdani, who competed for the host team Khorasan Razavi, won his first match against Ulzisaikhan BAASANTSOGT (MGL) by technical fall (11-0) in just 1:29. In his second match, he just needed 81 seconds to beat Azizbek SOLIEV (UZB), 12-0. The 2016 Olympic champion then 74kg faced Vahe TAMRAZYAN (ARM) and downed him 11-0 in 4:37.

Yazdani's team was defeated by Armenia in the qualification round allowing him to finish in Takhti Cup with three technical fall wins.

In freestyle, Iran (A) team defeated Armenia 8-0 in the final match to win title, as Kazakhstan beat Iran (B) team in third place match.

In Greco-Roman, Iran (A) team and Georgia advanced to the final match and the host team lifted the Cup by winning the match 7-1.  In third place match, Iran (B) downed Turkey 5-3.

During the tournament, the competitions of traditional Iranian wrestling style “Pahlavani Wrestling” was held and Khorasan Razavi team beat Russia 5-1 to win the trophy.

The Iranian Wrestling Federation also awarded their Top Wrestler Award for 2016 to Hassan Yazadani freestyle, Ghasem Rezai in Greco-Roman and Jaber Sadeghzadeh in Pahlavani Wrestling. The trio stepped on the mat wearing firemen uniforms in memory of firemen who were killed when a 17-storey Tehran commercial building collapsed on top of them as they tried to put out a blaze.

The results of 2017 Takhti Cup Wrestling tournament:

Freestyle results (16 teams)

Final match: Iran df. Armenia, 8-0

57kg- Younes SARMASTI (IRI) TF. Naryk HOVANSYAN (ARM), 10-0
61kg- Mehran NASIRI (IRI) df. Ashot VELITSYAN (ARM), 3-3
65kg- Meysam NASIRI (IRI) df. VOLODYA FRANGULYAN (ARM), 13-6
70kg- Hamed RASHIDI (IRI) TF. Valter MARGARYAN (ARM), 18-8
74kg- Peyman YARAHMADI (IRI) TF. Grigor GRIGORYAN (ARM), 12-2
86kg- Alireza KARIMI (IRI) TF. Vahe TAMRAZYAN (ARM), 11-0
97kg- Amir MOHAMMADI(IRI) Pinned SHAMIR ATYAN (ARM)
125kg- Yadollah MOHEBBI (IRI) pinned Andranik GALSTYAN (ARM)

Third place match: Kazakhstan df. Iran (B), 5-3

57kg- Rouhollah NEMATIAN (IRI) df. Darkhan BEISENOV (KAZ), 5-1
61kg- Daulet NIYAZBEKOV (KAZ) pinned Behrouz BEHROUZI RAD(IRI) 10-8, pinned
65kg- Ilyas ZHUMAY (KAZ) df. Farzad AMOUZAD KHALILI (IRI), 4-4
70kg- Daniyar KAISANOV(KAZ) TF. Ali Asghar JEBELI (IRI), 10-0
74kg- Bahman TEYMOURI (IRI) pinned Zhiger ZAKIROV (KAZ)
86kg- Mojtaba GOLEIJ (IRI) pinned Yesbolat NURZHUMBAYEV (KAZ)
97kg- Yeraly ABDRASHEV (KAZ) df. Abbas TAHAN by injury default
125kg- Dmitriy POPOV (KAZ) TF. Amin TAHERI (IRI), 10-0

Semifinal Results:

Iran (A) df. Iran (B), 8-0
Armenia df. Kazakhstan, 4-4 (21-14)

Group standings

Group A: 1- Iran (A) 2- Iran (Development team) 3- Latin America 3- Kazakhstan (B)
Group B: 1- Iran (B) 2- Georgia 3- Iran Junior team 4- Belarus
Group C: 1- Armenia 2- Khorasan Razavi of Iran 3- Mongolia 4- Uzbekistan
Group D: 1- Kazakhstan (A) 2- Ukraine 3- Kirgizstan

Greco-Roman results (12 teams)

Final match: Iran df. Georgia, 7-1

59kg- Mohammad NOURBAKHSH (IRI) df. Ramaz SURMANIDZE (GEO), 5-4
66kg- Mohammad ELYASI (IRI) df. Tornike JANGAVADZE (GEO), 8-5
71kg- Afshin BIYABANGARD (IRI) df. Anton MAMAGEISHVILI (GEO), 5-0
75kg- Rasoul GARMSIRI (IRI) df. Goga APRIAMASHVILI (GEO), 4-1
80kg- Yousef GHADERIAN (IRI) df. Tornike DZAMASHVILI (GEO), 3-1
85kg- Saman AZIZI (IRI) df. Giorgi TSIREKIDZE (GEO), 7-2
98kg- Mate SOPADZE (GEO) df. Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI), 1-1
130kg- Behnam MEHDIZADEH (IRI) df. Vasil IMRELISHVILI (GEO), 5-0

Third place match: Iran (B) df. Turkey, 5-3

59kg- Mehrdad MARDANI (IRI) df. Şerif KILIÇ (TUR), 7-0
66kg- Amin SOURI (IRI) df. Mehmet ÇEKER (TUR), 4-1
71kg- Boroumand ASLAN (IRI) df. SelCuk CAN (TUR), 4-2
75kg- Pejman POSHTAM (IRI) df. Yunus EMRE BASAR (TUR), 3-1
80kg- Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) df. Mehdi EBRAHIMI (IRI), 11-2
85kg- Mehdi FALLAH (IRI) TF. Ali CENGIZ (TUR), 11-2
98kg- Fatih BASKOY (TUR) df. Majid ALIYARI (IRI), 3-1
130kg- Osman YILDIRIM (TUR) TF. Masoud NEMAT CHEKANI (IRI), 8-0

Semifinal results:

Iran (A) df. Iran (B), 6-2
Georgia df. Turkey, 6-2

Group Standings:

Group A: 1- Iran (A) 2- Bulgaria 3- Iran (Development team)
Group B: 1- Iran (B) 2- Ukraine 3- Iran junior team
Group C: 1- Georgia 2- Khorasan Razavi of Iran 3- Iraq
Group D: 1- Turkey 2- Armenia 3- Uzbekistan

Pahlavani Wrestling (10 teams)

Final match: Khorasan Razavi (IRI) df. Russia (Kaliningerad), 5-1

60kg- Amin KHODABAKHSH (IRI) pinned Aliaskhab BADRUDINOV (RUS), 3-0 pinned
70kg- Ebrahim VALIAN (IRI) pinned Yadigar AGAMALIEV (RUS), 4-0 pinned
80kg- Rasoul SAHRAEI (IRI) pinned Magomed RAMAZANOV (RUS), 4-0 pinned
90kg- Ali EBRAHIMI (IRI) pinned Tamerlan AKHMEDOV (RUS), 4-2 pinned
100kg- Magomed TASHAGADZHIEV (RUS) pinned, Mostafa SHAHRI (IRI), 7-2 pinned
+100kg- Ahmad MIRZAPOUR (IRI) pinned Magomed GELALIEV (RUS), 2-0 pinned

فینال کشتی آزاد: ایران 8 - ارمنستان 0

۵۷ کیلوگرم: یونس سرمستی ۱۰ - ناریک هواناسیان صفر

۶۱ کیلوگرم: مهران نصیری ۳ (برنده) - آشوت ولیتسیان ۳

۶۵ کیلوگرم: میثم نصیری ۱۳ - ولودیا فرانکولیان ۶

۷۰ کیلوگرم: حامد رشیدی ۱۸ - والتر مارگاریان ۸

۷۴ کیلوگرم: پیمان یاراحمدی ۱۲ - گری گور گری گوریان ۲

۸۶ کیلوگرم: علیرضا کریمی ۱۱- واهه تمرازیان صفر

۹۷ کیلوگرم: امیر محمدی برنده با ضربه فنی- شمیر آتیان

۱۲۵ کیلوگرم: یدالله محبی برنده با ضربه فنی- آندانیک گالستیان

مسابقه رده بندی کشتی آزاد: قزاقستان 5 - ایران 3

57 کیلوگرم: دارخان بیسینوف – روح اله نعمتیان، برنده (1- 5)

61 کیلوگرم: کوات امیرتایف، برنده- بهروز بهروزی راد (10- 8 ضربه فنی)

65 کیلوگرم: الیاس ژومای، برنده- فرزاد عموزاده (4 – 4)

70 کیلوگرم: دانیار کایسانوف، برنده- علی اصغر جبلی (10- صفر)

74 کیلوگرم: ژیگر ذاکراف – بهمن تیموری، برنده (3- 7 ضربه فنی)

86 کیلوگرم: یسبولات نورژوم بایف- مجتبی گلیج، برنده (ضربه فنی)

97 کیلوگرم: برالی عبدالرشیداف، برنده- عباس طحان (پیروزی به دلیل اعمال خطا)

125 کیلوگرم: دیمیتری پوپوف، برنده- امین طاهری (10- صفر)