TEHRAN - Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers have delivered a respectable performance, securing one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal at the 2026 World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
In 82kg, Gholamreza Farrokhi defeated Yüksel Sarıçiçek from Turkey 5-1 in the final, and won the gold medal 
In the 55kg, Payam Ahmadi was defeated 3–1 by the world champion, Eldaniz Azizli from Azerbaijan, and settled for the silver medal.
In the 60kg, Ali Ahmadivafa, while leading 7–1 against Koto Gomi from Japan, he was defeated by a fall and had to settle for the silver medal.
In the 77kg weight class, Ali Oskou defeated Čepauskas from Lithuania 11–0 in the first round. He defeated Nekibov from Uzbekistan 4–3 to secure the bronze.
In 97 kg, Muhammad Hadi Saravi, Iran’s world and Olympic gold medalist, rested in the first round, then went to the mat against Khulayan, world U-23 gold medalist from Armenia, and secured a superb 8-0 victory in the first 3 minutes.
In the third round and the quarterfinals, Saravi went to the mat against Anton Vog from Germany and ultimately won 5-0 to advance to the semifinals.
Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia, a 5-time world and Olympic gold medalist and Saravi’s traditional rival in world and Olympic arenas, is the big absentee of these competitions due to surgery.
But in the 130 kg weight class, Fardin Hedayati, world youth and U-23 gold medalist, faced Frederikas from Lithuania in the first round and won in 11 seconds. Hedayati’s opponent, who was taken to the bridge (pinned), did not continue wrestling due to injury.
In his second match, Hedayati also defeated Sirlybay from Kazakhstan with a superb 8-0 score and advanced to the quarterfinals.
In his third match, Hedayati went to the mat against Jiang from China and ultimately won with a superb 9-0 score in the first period, also advancing to the semifinals.
The 2026 World Wrestling Championships are being held in Astana, Kazakhstan on Oct. 24 and 25.