Three Yazdani’s Win Iran Freestyle Team Trials

Monday, July 1, 2019 - 12:31 By Ali Feizasa

The small town of Jouybar, located in the Mazandaran province, introduced yet another talent to Iranian wrestling as three wrestlers from the Yazdani family won a spot on Iran’s freestyle team for 2019 World Championships in Kazakhstan.

Amir YAZDANI won the 65kg title in the Iran team trials, as his older cousin and two-time world champion Reza YAZDANI topped 97kg. Their relative, world and Olympic champion Hassan YAZDANI dominated at 86kg and also punched his ticket to Nur-Sultan, too.

Iran’s coaching staff decided to hold team trials in only five weights and will select other five wrestlers according to their performance from the entirety of the 2019 season.

65kg- Winner: Amir Mohammad YAZDANI
The youngster Amir Yazdani, a cousin to Reza YAZDANI, finished the 65kg competition with two wins and a loss. Iman SADEGHI had the same record, but the cadet world silver and U23 Asian silver-medal winner beat Sadeghi, 3-2 in the first round to be the best wrestler in this weight.

His sister Zahra YAZDANI is also Asian Alysh Indoor Games champion.

65kg
Round 1
Amir Mohammad YAZDANI df. Iman SADEGHI, 3-2
Morteza GHIYASI df. Peyman BIYABANI, 3-2

Round 2
Iman SADEGHI df. Peyman BIYABANI, 6-4
Amir Mohammad YAZDANI df. Morteza GHIYASI, 5-4

Round 3
Peyman BIYABANI df. Amir Mohammad YAZDANI, 6-1
Iman SADEGHI df. Morteza GHIYASI, 2-1

74kg Winner: Reza AFZALI
Former Asian champion Reza AFZALI returned to Iran national team at 74kg after a five years absence. Afzali had three victories on the day. The first came against 2019 Asian bronze medal winner Mohammad NOKODI. Then, Afzali defeated two-time world medal winner Seyed MOHAMMADI and capped off his day with a win against Hamed RASHIDI.

AFZALI competed for Iran at 2014 World Championships where he finished in 13thplace.

74kg- Round 1
Mohammad NOKHODI df. Seyed Ahmad MOHAMMADI, 4-4
Reza AFZALI df. Hamed RASHIDI, 4-0

Round 2
Reza AFZALI df. Seyed Ahmad MOHAMMADI, 9-7
Hamed RASHIDI df. Mohammad NOKHODI, 4-4

Round 3
Seyed Ahmad MOHAMMADI df. Hamed RASHIDI, 7-7
Reza AFZALI df. Mohammad NOKHODI, 5-0

86kg- Winner: Hassan YAZDANI
The brilliant performance of U23 world champion and 2019 Asian champion Kamran GHASEMPOUR, forced Iran’s national head coach to hold a wrestle-off between him and Olympic and world champion Hassan Yazdani.

Both wrestlers from Jouybar knew each other very well. Yazdani didn’t have an easy job against Ghasempour, but Yazdani earned his Kazakhstan ticket by defeating his rival 6-3.

“Ghasempour is my close friend, and he is a very good wrestler. We know each other styles very well, so it was a tough match for me.” Hassan Yazdani said after the match.

Iranian wrestling fans in attendance filled most of the seats of the Azadi Sports Complex. Hassan Yazdani was their favorite wrestler, and the fans supported him during the competition. “I appreciate the fans, and I thank them for their support. It was my duty to compete in the team trials, and I have done so during the last few years.” Yazdani added.

After falling to David TAYLOR (USA) in 2018 World Championships, it seems Yazdani will be the favorite to win gold as defending champion Taylor will miss the World Championships due to injury. Taylor’s absence leaves Yazdani very close to his fifth Olympic and world medal at age 25.

97kg- Winner: Reza YAZDANI
Four-time world medal winner Reza Yazdani has returned to Iran’s line up after a three-year absence. Reza Yazdani has missed two Olympic medals because of injury but has focused on taking one last in Tokyo 2020.

The first world medal of YAZDANI returns to 13 years ago in 2006, and he has aimed to capture his fifth world medal in Kazakhstan.

Reza Yazdani was also the third wrestler from Jouybar and also from Yazdani family to win an Iranian team trials gold medal. The fathers of Reza and Hassan are cousins.

97kg
Round 1
Ali Shabani df. Hamed TALEBI ZARRINKAMAR, 3-2

Round 2
Reza YAZDANI df. Ali SHABANI, 5-3

125kg- Winner: Parviz HADI
Reigning world bronze medal winner Parviz HADI ensured his participation at Kazakhstan by downing two big heavyweight rivals. Hadi, the man who beat Olympic champion Taha AKGUL in last year World Championships, faced two-time Asian champion Yadollah MOHEBBI in the first round and won the match. 4-2.

Then, Hadi met veteran and two-time Olympic medalist Komeil Ghasemi and earned the 4-0 victory.

Ghasemi is the most titled heavyweight wrestler of Iran wrestling history in the Olympic Games as he achieved a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and took silver in the 2016 Rio Games.

125kg
Round 1
Parviz HADI df. Yadollah MOHEBBI, 4-2

Round 2
Yadollah MOHEBBI df. Komeil GHASEMI, 6-2

Round 3
Parviz HADI df. Komeil GHASEMI, 4-0

Predicted Iran Freestyle line up for 2019 World Championships
57kg- Reza ATRI
61kg- Mohammad Bagher YAKHKESHI – Behnam EHSANPOUR
65kg- Amir Mohammad YAZDANI
70kg- Younes EMAMI
74kg- Reza AFZALI
79kg- Bahman TEYMOURI
86kg- Hassan YAZDANI
92kg- Alireza KARIMI
97kg- Reza YAZDANI
125kg- Parviz HADI

#WrestleZagreb

Chung puts Korea in World C'ships final

Saturday, September 20, 2025 - 16:49 By Vinay Siwach

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 20) -- Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) has long been the training partner of former world champion Hansyu RYU (KOR) at national camps in Korea as both hail from Busan and wrestled at the Kyungsung University.

Eight years after Ryu became a world champion in Paris, Korea's last gold at World Championships, Chung would try to emulate his role model after he made the 63kg final at the World Championships in Zagreb on Saturday.

In his previous two trips to the World Championships, Chung finished eight and 25th but has now assured himself at least a silver medal in 2025. This is also Korea's first medal since Min Seok KIM (KOR) won bronze in 2018.

Chung opened his campaign with a 7-1 victory over Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO) before picking up a fall over Manato NAKAMURA (JPN). Tokyo bronze medalist Sergey EMELIN (UWW) was next but Chung defended from par terre and posted a 1-1 criteria win.

In the semifinals, Chung had Asian silver medalist Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI) but he stepped up. Keshtkar got the first par terre position but was not able to score any points, going to the break leading 1-0.

The second period saw Chung go for the reverse throw for two points and Keshtkar was docked two points for a leg foul, giving a 5-1 lead to Chung. Keshtkar tried making a comeback and got a takedown to cut the lead to 5-3 but that was all he had as Chung claimed the victory in the semifinals.

But to win his country's first gold since 2017, Chung will have to go through Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) who looks unbeatable. A month after winning the gold medal at the U20 World Championships, the Uzbek star is now in the World Championships final with a dominant 8-0 win over Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA).

Khalmakhanov needed only 37 seconds to finish his semifinals against Erimenco as he used an over-under grip to slam him on the mat for two points. He continued the same sequence for two more points and lead 6-0. A trap arm gut was enough to get him two more points and the win.

Iran managed two more wrestlers in the final at the World Championships with Olympic champion Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) and Olympic silver medalist Alireza MOHAMADI (IRI) a win away from winning their first world titles at 67kg and 87kg respectively.

Esmaeili particularly looked in the form of his life as he blanked his 36-0 in four bouts with none going the full distance of the six minutes. He began with a 9-0 win over 2022 world champion Sebastian NAD (SRB) before two 8-0 wins against Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB) and Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR), 8-0.

In the semifinals, he used a five-point throw to beat Daniial AGAEV (UWW). Using a bodylock, he scored his first takedown and then turned Agaev for a 4-0 lead. He then got the par terre position and reverse lifted Agaev and slammed him for five points.

For the gold medal, he will have to get past Olympic bronze medalist Hasrat JARAFOV (AZE), a returning silver medalist. Jafarov faced Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) in the semifinal and used a correct throw from par terre to beat the Kyrgyzstan wrestlers 3-1.

Mohamadi had a very contrasting semifinal against David LOSONCZI (HUN) at 87kg. He seemed to be sailing to victory with 5-1 lead and under a minute left but Losonczi locked his waist and threw him for a takedown for two points. Hungary challenged the call asking for four points but it was awarded only two on review and Hungary lost the challenge to give one more point to Mohamadi.

With a 6-3 win, Mohamadi, a silver medalist at 82kg from 2023, will now try to win the gold medal against former European champion Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB).

Trusting his defense in the semifinal against Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW), Komarov held on to his 1-1 criteria lead to win the bout. Komarov was the beneficiary of the new Greco-Roman rule which states that the criteria will remain with the wrestler who got the first point in a 1-1 finish.

Irrespective of what happens in the final on Sunday, Iran has already won the Greco-Roman team title. This is the first time in the country's history that Iran has won both Freestyle and Greco-Roman team title at the same World Championships.

RESULTS

63kg
GOLD: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) vs. Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

SF 1: Hanjae CHUNG (KOR) df. Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI), 5-3
SF 2: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 8-0

67kg
GOLD: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) vs. Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)

SF 1: Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI) df. Daniial AGAEV (UWW), 10-0
SF 2: Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE) df. Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ), 3-1

87kg
GOLD: Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) vs. Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)

SF 1: Alireza MOHMADI (IRI) df. David LOSONCZI (HUN), 6-3
SF 2: Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB) df. Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW), 1-1

Three Yazdani’s Win Iran Freestyle Team Trials

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Chung puts Korea in World C'ships final