Three Iranian Freestyle Wrestlers Advance to World Championships Semifinals

Tehran - BORNA - Following the morning session of the first four weight categories, Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan (61kg), Kamran Ghasempour (86kg), and Amirhossein Zare (125kg) each defeated their rivals to secure a place in tonight’s semifinals, scheduled to begin at 20:30 local time on Saturday.

At 61kg, Mohammadnejad Javan opened his campaign with a dominant 13–2 win over Joshua Cramer of Ecuador, followed by a 5–2 victory against Azerbaijan’s Nuraddin Nouruzov. In the quarterfinals, he overcame Kamil Karimov of Ukraine 8–4 to book his spot in the semifinals, where he will face Kum Hyok Kim of North Korea.

At 70kg, however, Iran’s Amir Mohammad Yazdani was eliminated after losing 15–4 in his opening bout to Azerbaijan’s Kanan Heybatov. With Heybatov later falling in the quarterfinals to an Armenian opponent, Yazdani was denied a chance to re-enter through the repechage round.

At 86kg, world champion Kamran Ghasempour made an emphatic start, defeating Kyrgyzstan’s Mukhammad Abdullayev and Mongolia’s Batbilgun Nadambaatar by identical 10–0 technical superiority scores. In the quarterfinals, he edged Russia’s Ibrahim Kadiev 5–4 in a hard-fought match. Ghasempour now advances to face Zahid Valencia of the United States in the semifinals.

At 125kg, Olympic medalist Amirhossein Zare enjoyed a first-round bye before overwhelming Puerto Rico’s Yanowan Smith 11–0 in the second round. In the quarterfinals, he cruised past Georgia’s Solomon Manashvili 10–0 to reach the semifinals, where he will wrestle Shamil Sharifov of Bahrain.

The semifinals later tonight will determine whether Iran’s three remaining contenders advance to the finals of their respective weight categories at the prestigious global event.

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