Azarpira Wins 97kg Gold as Iran’s Wrestling Campaign Closes With Six
TEHRAN - Amir Ali Azarpira won gold in the 97kg freestyle category at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, beating Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov 10-0 in the final.
Azarpira reached the final by defeating Arash Yoshida — an Iranian-Japanese dual national and world bronze medalist — 4-3 in a hard-fought semifinal, avenging an earlier loss at the Asian Championships.
Iran’s wrestling campaign at the Asian Games ended with six gold medals across 12 weight classes — four in freestyle and two in Greco-Roman.
Emami’s comeback gold at 74kg
In the 74kg category, Younes Emami, a two-time world bronze medalist, opened with a 7-6 win over Olympic champion Razambek Jamalov of Uzbekistan. He beat India’s Jaglan 10-0 in the quarterfinals, then defeated world champion Nurkozha Kaipanov of Kazakhstan 4-2 in the semifinals.
In the final against Japan’s Yoshinosuke Aoyagi, Emami trailed 5-2 before scoring seven straight points to win 9-5.
Momeni eliminated at 57kg
Ali Momeni, Iran’s other representative in the final three weight classes, lost his opening 57kg bout to a Tajik opponent and was eliminated.
Two golds on the previous day
Iran’s freestyle team had already claimed two golds in the first three weight classes.
In the 125kg final, Amir Hussein Zare — a three-time world gold medalist with one world bronze and an Olympic silver and bronze — beat China’s Bohredon 14-2.
In the 86kg final, Muhammad Nokhodi — a three-time world silver and two-time world bronze medalist at 79kg — beat Japan’s Hayato Ishiguro, the 2025 world runner-up, 9-6 in a tight contest.
Earlier, in the 65kg bronze medal match, Abbas Ebrahimzadeh lost 3-1 to Japan’s Kotaro Kiyooka, the 2024 Olympic champion, finishing fifth.
Iran’s freestyle results in Nagoya:
57kg: Ali Momeni (eliminated)
65kg: Abbas Ebrahimzadeh (fifth)
74kg: Younes Emami (gold)
86kg: Muhammad Nokhodi (gold)
97kg: Amir Ali Azarpira (gold)
125kg: Amir Hussein Zare (gold)