The national Iranian senior Greco-Roman wrestling team has finished in third place at the conclusion of 2017 Greco-Roman World Cup in the central western Iranian city of Abadan, and received the bronze medal.
On Friday evening and final day of the two-day competitions at Abadan’s Kowsar Sport Venue, the defending champions, Iran, rolled over Turkey 6-2 in the dual meet for the third place.
Iran’s Saman Morad Abdouli overwhelmed Hammet Rustem 9-0 by a technical fall in the 59-kilogram weight class.
In the 66-kilogram category, Mehdi Chooli Zeidvand clinched a resounding 4-0 victory over Turkish opponent Atakan Yuksel.
Iranian competitor Mohammad Ali Abdolhamid Geraei overcame Ilker Sonmez 9-0 by technical fall in the 71-kilogram weight division.
Rasoul Sadegh Garmsiri, however, did not succeed in his struggle to prevail over Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler Emrah Kus in the 75-kilogram, and fell to him 1-2.
Later on, Aslan Atem of Turkey conceded a 1-2 defeat to Iran’s Yousef Ahmad Ghaderian in the 80-kilogram weight division.
Turkey’s Metehan Basar clinched a narrow 2-1 win over Iranian wrestler Mahdi Ebrahim Fallah Hamidabadi by disqualification.
In the 97-kilogram weight category, Mahdi Abbas Aliyari Feizabadi of Iran outmuscled Turkish rival Cenk Ildem 7-1.
Iran’s Behnam Aliakbar Mehdizadeh Aryatapeh defeated Turkish opponent Ali Nail Arslan 2-1 in the 130-kilogram weight class.
“We deserved to earn a better place. Most of the Iranian wrestlers were young and I am satisfied about their performance,” Iran’s head coach Ali Ashkani said.
“Turkey was a good team but our performance was better than theirs. I hope the Iranian people will accept this trophy. We will train hard for upcoming events such as the Islamic Solidarity Games and Asian Championships,” Ashkani added.
Meanwhile, Russia overpowered Azerbaijan 5-3 and ranked the champion of the tournament.
The 2017 Greco-Roman Wrestling World Cup opened in Abadan, Iran, on March 16 and finished the following day.
Germany ended in the fifth place after downing Ukraine 5-3, and Kazakhstan stood seventh after emerging victorious from its match with Belarus 6-2.