News / Sports

Iranian freestyle wrestler Rahimi top-ranked in world

Wednesday, 07 June 2017 10:13 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 07 June 2017 11:35 AM ]

Iranian freestyle wrestler Hassan Rahimi (file photo)

Iranian freestyle wrestler Hassan Rahimi has been named the world’s best athlete in the 57-kilogram weight category in the June 2017 edition of the United World Wrestling rankings.

The 27-year-old claimed the top ranking spot of the weight class, standing ahead of the biggest European wrestling star Giorgi Edisherashvili from Azerbaijan.

Turkish freestyle wrestler Suleyman Atli, Zaur Uguev from Russia, Mongolian sportsman Erdenebat Bekhbayar and Romania’s Andrei Dukov landed in the third to the sixth places.

On August 19, 2016, Rahimi downed his Cuban opponent Yowlys Bonne Rodriguez in the third-place contest of men’s 57kg weight category.

While Rahimi had a 9-0 lead over his Cuban opponent, he pinned Rodriguez’s shoulders to the mat to win the bout by a fall in the third round and collect the bronze medal.

Rahimi, who had a bye in the first round, overpowered Armenian wrestler Garnik Mnatsakanyan 13-0 in the second, before overcoming Russia’s representative Victor Lebedev 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

The 27-year-old Iranian sportsman however conceded a 5-10 defeat from Japan’s Rei Higuchi in the semifinal, and had to appear in the bronze medal bout.

Wrestling bouts at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games began at Hall 3 of the Olympic Training Center in Barra da Tijucaon August 14, and ran through August 21, 2016.

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