BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (August 18) -- For a second year in a row, Iran will finish with only one Greco-Roman gold at the U20 World Championships in Bratislava. While it was enough to win the team title last year, Iran is all-but-out of the Greco-Roman team title race.
But among all the gloom around its performance, Iran found one star made for the future.
Two years after he won the U17 world title, Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) added a U20 world title to his name at just 18 years of age.
Shamsipour, who captured the imagination of Iran after the 2024 U17 gold, may have changed his celebrations after winning but his performance on the mat remained the same.
He won three out of four bouts, including final, via technical superiority while one was a close 3-1 affair. In the final, he outclassed Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO), 12-2, never letting Karumidze even come close to upsetting him.
Shamsipour was off right away and managed to get the par terre in the final. He managed to lift Karumdize and score a beautiful throw for four points to lead 5-0 at the break.
Karumidze was slowly killing his body as he engaged more with Shamsipour who scored an easy go-behind. As he tried to lift and throw the Georgian, Shamsipour landed on his own back on to give up two points.
Shamsipour did not put the brakes on his attacks despite being 7-2 up and managed another takedown with 1:22 remaining. Ten seconds later, he got another easy takedown to make the score 11-2 at which Georgia challenged but lost, giving one more point to Shamsipour.
“I was in good shape,” Shamsipour said. “Based on the coaches’ analysis, the plan was for me to start working on his arms from the first period and try to force the first passivity warning. Once I started doing that, I could see that he was really struggling, so I just kept going with the same strategy.”
Among his bouts, the Khuzestan wrestler said that his bout against the Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB) was difficult in the semifinals. Kuchkarov had blanked Shamsipour, 8-0, in the bronze-medal bout at the U23 World Championships last year.
But Shamsipour prevailed this time as he turned Kuchkarov from par terre to collect his 3-1 win.
“My toughest opponent was the wrestler from Uzbekistan because I had wrestled him before, he said. “I couldn’t afford to take any risks. At the U23 Worlds, I was really upse. But here, I got my revenge.”
At the U17 World Championships in 2024, Shamsipour went berserk with his celebrations but on Tuesday, he kept it simple.
“I was younger, I made a lot more noise and showed a lot more excitement after that competition,” he said. “This time it was different. I knew I had to stay calm, take it one match at a time, and move forward step by step. Physically, the wrestlers at this level are stronger. Age and weight are both very important factors.”
While he has not made his senior debut, Shamsipour revealed that he will try and qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games.
“I hope I can always make my parents proud like this and achieve my dream of winning an Olympic gold medal. The 2028 Olympics is my goal, and that’s what I’m focused on right now.”
At 72kg, Mingiian GORIAEV (RUS) denied U20 European champion Salih YAZICI (TUR), 12-3, the gold medal. Goriaev got the par terre in the first period and turned Yazici two times to lead 5-0.
The 2025 U20 European champion gave up a stepout as Yazici scored a takedown to cut the score to 7-3. Goriaev kept the pressure up and scored a stepout, before adding a takedown and turn to win 12-3.
The gold medal helped Russia take a crucial lead team title race even as Iran, Armenia and Uzbekistan keep trying to surpass Russia.
Kazakhstan managed to earn the gold medal at 67kg after Kazybek KALMAGAMBETOV (KAZ) and Mikhail MARKOUSKI (BLR) put on a show in the 67kg final that the former won 13-7.
RESULTS
55kg
GOLD: Armin SHAMSIPOUR (IRI) df. Koba KARUMIDZE (GEO), 12-2
BRONZE: Khojiakbar KUCHKAROV (UZB) df. Maxim SARMANOV (MDA), 9-1
BRONZE: Emin JAVADLI (AZE) df. Hiro SAKAMOTO (JPN), 11-1
67kg
GOLD: Kazybek KALMAGAMBETOV (KAZ) df. Mikhail MARKOUSKI (BLR), 13-7
BRONZE: Yurik MKHITARYAN (ARM) df . Iliya ALIKHANI (IRI), via fall
BRONZE: Petro ZHYTOVOZ (HUN) df. Mohamed ABDELREHIM (EGY), 11-2
72kg
GOLD: Mingiian GORIAEV (RUS) df. Salih YAZICI (TUR), 12-3
BRONZE: Mohamed IBRAHIM (EGY) df. Jorge GOMEZ (MEX), 6-0
BRONZE: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 7*-7
97kg
GOLD: Yehor YAKUSHENKO (UKR) df. Ilia KOMAROV (RUS), 4-1
BRONZE: Erik TER MATEVOSYAN (ARM) df. Arman MKRTCHYAN (GEO), 3*-3
BRONZE: Pauli PERKIOE (FIN) df. Fakhrikamol KOMILJONOV (UZB), 9-0
