Iran World Team Trials

Three Yazdani’s Win Iran Freestyle Team Trials

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

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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

#WrestleUlaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar Open 2025: Day 1 highlights and recap

Thursday, May 29, 2025 - 02:33 By Vinay Siwach

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ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia (May 29) -- The third Ranking Series event, Ulaanbaatar Open, gets underway in the Mongolian capital. Seven Greco-Roman weight classes will be in action on Thursday.

WATCH LIVE | LIVE MATCH ORDER | ULAANBAATAR OPEN PREVIEW

13:05: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) goes big from par terre and scores eight points before getting two points for a leg foul from Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) to win 11-0. He will take on Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) in the final. Yilmaz had beaten Maksatbek Uulu 11-3 in the round-robin bout earlier

13:02: Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) takes just a minute to beat Nishant PHOGAT (IND) 9-0 in the first semifinal at 77kg. He will wrestle for gold.

13:00: The semifinals, only two in 77kg, will begin now. Nishant PHOGAT (IND) vs Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) and Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) vs. Sumiyabazar ZANDANBUD (MGL) 

12:20: Danial SOHRABI (IRI) gets the par terre and then turn Mustafa SAHIN (TUR) for a 3-0 lead in his Round 5 bout at 72kg. He then defends his position from par terre and wins 3-1. He will take home 8000 ranking points.

12:05: NITESH (IND) reverses the par terre position to get a point after Uzur DZHUZUPEKOV (KGZ) scores two turns from par terre. Nitesh gets a turn from par terre to make it 5-3. A par terre position in second period for Nitesh but no points scored. With the score 5-4, Dzhuzupekov defends his lead and wins at 97kg

11:50: Asian champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) with a big suplex and beats Ankit GULIA (IND) to top his group at 72kg. He will have his Round 5 match against Mustafa SAHIN (TUR) which will be a virtual gold medal bout.

11:40: Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR) with an 11-1 win over Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) at 77kg to confirm his semifinal spot. Yilmaz is a bronze medalist from the European Championships.

11:25: Asian silver medalist Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) holds off Murat FIRAT (TUR) 5-1 at 67kg. Solid win for Beishekeev. His compatriot Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ) rolls to a 9-0 win over Lkhagvasuren DASHJAMTS (MGL) at 77kg.

11:20: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) with another injury pull out at 82kg. Shahin BADAGHI (QAT) gets the victory.

11:10: Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) waits for the second period to unleash the gut-wrench as he beats  Bat-Erdene BYAMBASUREN (MGL) 9-1 in the 97kg Round 2 bout.

11:05: Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) was down 3-2 against Ankit GULIA (IND) but bounces back with takedowns and two rolls to win 8-3 in Round 2.

11:00: Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR) comes on the mat but pulls out of the bout against PRINCE (IND) at 82kg. But he doesn't submit the injury report so we may see him again in later rounds.

10:50: Paris Olympic bronze medalist at 97kg Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ) starts off a little rusty against Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL) and gives up six points. But he manages to score at the right time using gut-wrenches and wins 10-6.

10:48: World U23 champion Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ) with two front throws to stun NEERAJ (IND) 9-0 at 67kg. Remember these are round-robin matches and not eliminations.

10:45: Injury scare for Turkiye as Alperen BERBER (TUR) pulls out of his match against Karan KAMBOJ (IND) at 87kg. Berber got the par terre and got two front rolls for a 5-0 lead before a reversal and roll made it 5-3 as Berber held his hamstring in pain. He tried continuing but Kamboj pushed him for a stepout and Turkiye coach called to pull out due to injury.

10:40: Another quick finish at 72kg as Asian champion Danial SOHRABI (IRI) rolls to a technical superiority win over Zandanbat BATSAIKHAN (MGL). Sohrabi looking to gather those points for a better seed at the World Championships.

10:35: Mehmet SAHIN (TUR) with a 9-0 win over Yryskeldi KHAMZAEV (KGZ) in Round 1 of the competition. Six weight classes have round-robin competition while 77kg has Nelson system with two groups.

10:30: Welcome to day one of the competition at the Ulaanbaatar Open with seven Greco-Roman weight classes -- 55kg, 67kg, 72kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg and 97kg.