(KERMANSHAH, Iran) -Wrestlers from 16 countries competed at 35th Takhti Cup last week in Iran.

Grapplers from Iran, Georgia, the United States, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, China, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq and Pakistan competed in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and traditional Pahlevani wrestling styles.

In freestyle, Iranians swept seven of eight gold medals as Georgian wrestler won title at 97kg. World silver medallist Seyed Ahmad MOHAMMADI (IRI) led Iranian team as he won gold medal at 65kg, afater a tough match in the final against Iranian young wrestler JEBELI. Mohammadi came from behind to defeat Jeneli 5-4, only 15 seconds to the end of the match by a takedown.

In Greco-Roman, Ukrainians had a strong performance as they captured three gold medals, which equalled that of the Iranians. In one of the night’s most exciting matches, 2014 World bronze medallist and European champion Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) won the 85kg gold medal, defeating Davoud ABEDINZADEH (IRI) who was being support by most than 6000 fans.

Georgia and Azerbaijan achieved two other gold medals in Greco-Roman.

For the first time ever the Iranian Wrestling Federation held a traditional Pahlevani wrestling in +90kg weight class which had special prize, $20,000 for gold, $12,000 for silver and $8000 for bronze. A total of 30 wrestlers including 22 foreigners competed in Pahlevani wrestling with Asian Beach Games champion Jaber SADEGHZADEH (IRI) won title.

2015 Takhti Cup results

Freestyle

57kg (19 wrestlers)
Gold- Younes SARMASTI (IRI) df. Mostafa DAMADI (IRI) by TF, 10-0
Bronze- SANDEEP (IND) df. Otari GOGAVA (GEO), 1-0
Bronze- Reza ATARI (IRI) df. Farhad JALAEI (IRI), 8-8

Semifinals
Mostafa DAMADI (IRI) df. SANDEEP (IND), 13-6
Younes SARMASTI (IRI) df. Reza ATARI (IRI), 4-4

61kg (11 wrestlers)
Gold- Behnam EHSANPOUR (IRI) df. Arash DANGESARAKI (IRI), 3-3
Bronze- Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) df. HARPHOOL (IND), 9-4
Bronze- Iman SADEGHI (IRI) df. Qalib ALIYEV (AZE), 5-1

Semifinals
Arash DANGESARAKI (IRI) df. Beka LOMTADZE (GEO), 10-7
Behnam EHSANPOUR (IRI) df. Iman SADEGHI (IRI), 2-1

65kg (20 wrestlers)
Final- Seyed Ahmad MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Aliasghar JEBELI (IRI), 5-4
Bronze- M.M. YEGANEH JAFARI (IRI) df. Kum Su JON (PRK), 4-0
Bronze- Saeid SALEHI (IRI) df. Narek SIRUNYAN (ARM), 7-2

Semifinals
Seyed Ahmad MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. M.M. YEGANEH JAFARI (IRI) by FALL
Aliasghar JEBELI (IRI) df. Saeid SALEHI (IRI), 9-4

70kg (19 wrestlers)
Gold- Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) df. Iman RAHMANIZADEH (IRI), by TF 11-0
Bronze- Abbas Yazdani (IRI) df. Alexander JACHVADZE (GEO) by forfeit
Bronze- Masoud KAMARVAND (IRI) df. Ishkan POGHOSYAN (ARM), 11-5

Semifinals
Hassan YAZDANI (IRI) df. Alexander JACHVADZE (GEO) by FALL
Iman RAHMANIZADEH (IRI) df. Masoud KAMARVAND (IRI), 7-5

74kg (23 wrestlers)
Gold- Peyman YARAHMADI (IRI) df. Jumber KVELASHVILI (GEO), 1-0
Bronze- Bahman TEYMOURI (IRI) df. Zurab ERBOTSONASHVILI (GEO), 6-2
Bronze- Mohammad MAKTABDAR (IRI) df. Morteza REZAEI GHALEH (IRI) by forfeit

Semifinals
Peyman YARAHMADI (IRI) df. Bahman TEYMOURI (IRI), 4-1
Jumber KVELASHVILI (GEO) df. Morteza REZAEI GHALEH (IRI) by TF 12-2

86kg (19 wrestlers)
Gold- Meysam MOSTAFA JOUKAR (IRI) df. Alireza KARIMI (IRI), 5-0
Bronze- Ehsan AMINI (IRI) df. Ezatollah AKBARI (IRI), 5-3
Bronze-Davit MARSAGISHVILI (GEO) df. Ibrahim YUSUPOV (AZE), 9-4

Semifinals
Meysam MOSTAFA JOUKAR (IRI) df. Ezatollah AKBARI (IRI), 4-0
Alireza KARIMI (IRI) df. Ibrahim YUSUPOV (AZE) by TF, 11-0

97kg (18 wrestlers)
Gold- Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df. Hassan RAHIMI (IRI), 2-1
Bronze- Valeri ANDRITSEV (UKR) df.Ali Hamid AMIN (EGY), 13-7
Bronze- Seyed Mohsen EBRAHIMI (IRI) df. Abazar ESLAMI (IRI) by forfeit

Semifinals
Elizbar ODIKADZE (GEO) df. Abazar ESLAMI (IRI) by TF 10-0
Hassan RAHIMI (IRI) df. Valeri ANDRITSEV (UKR), 1-0

125kg (12 wrestlers)
Gold- Parviz HADI (IRI) df. Jafar SHAMS NATERI (IRI), 5-0
Bronze- Amin TAHERI (IRI) df. Dimitar KUMCHEV (BUL), 2-0
Bronze- Yadollah MOHEBI (IRI) df. HITENDAR (IND), 4-2

Semifinals
Jafar SHAMS NATERI (IRI) df. Yadollah AKBARI (IRI), 5-2
Parviz HADI (IRI) df. Amin TAHERI (IRI), 3-0 

Freestyle team rankings: 1- Iran 79 pts. 2- Georgia 47 pts. 3- India 21 pts. 4- Ukraine 17 pts. 5- Azerbaijan 14 pts. 6- Armenia 13 pts.

Greco-Roman
59kg (14 wrestlers)
Gold- Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Orhan AHMEDOV (AZE), 2-2
Bronze- Mohammad NOURBAKHSH (IRI) df. Murad BAZAROV (AZE), 5-0
Bronze- Shirzad BEHESHTI TALA (IRI) df. LUMIN  WANG (CHN), 3-2

Semifinals
Orhan AHMEDOV (AZE) df. Mohammad NOURBAKHSH (IRI), 7-3
Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Shirzad BEHESHTI TALA (IRI) by TF, 10-0

66kg (18 wrestlers)
Gold- Denys DEMYANKOV (UKR) df. Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI), 4-4
Bronze- Marad ABULADZE (GEO) df. Ruslan ISRAFILOV (UKR), by FALL
Bronze- Majid YAGHOUBI (IRI) df.Jin Chol PANG (PRK) ,3-3

Semifinals
Denys DEMYANKOV (UKR) df. Ruslan ISRAFILOV (UKR), 5-0
Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI) df. Majid YAGOUBI (IRI) by TF, 9-0

71kg (11 wrestlers)
Gold- Ramin TAHERI (IRI) df. Boroumand ASLAN (IRI), 5-0
Bronze- Cheng JIANG (CHN) df. Abbas MOHEBTASH (IRI), 4-1
Bronze- Azim GARMSIRI (IRI) df. Kim Jong HYON (PRK), 5-0

Semifinals
Boroumand ASLAN (IRI) df. Cheng JIANG(CHN) by TF, 10-2
Ramin TAHERI (IRI) df. Azim GARMSIRI (IRI) by TF, 8-0

75kg (10 wrestlers)
Gold- Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR) df. Mohamed ABDELSLAM (EGY) by TF, 10-0
Bronze- Mohammad KARIMI (IRI) df. Saeid GHOLAMI (IRI) ,6-4
Bronze- Behrouz HEDAYAT (IRI) df. Vahid BABAEI JAFARI (IRI), 3-0

Semifinals
Dmytro PYSHKOV (UKR) df. Mohammad KARIMI (IRI) by TF, 9-1
Mohamed ABDELSLAM (EGY) df. Vahid BABAEI JAFARI (IRI), 3-0

80kg (16 wrestlers)
Gold- Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) df. Ali ZINATI REFAH (IRI), 6-0
Bronze- Milad KHOSRAVI (IRI) df. Wei Wei CHEN (CHN), 4-0
Bronze- Ali SHARIFI (IRI) df. Zurab TSINTSADZE (GEO), 7-6

Semifinals
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) df. Milad KHOSRAVI (IRI) by TF, 18-7
Ali ZINATI REFAH (IRI) df. Ali SHARIFI (IRI), 1-0

85kg (12 wrestlers)
Gold- Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) df. Davoud ABEDINZADEH (IRI), 2-0
Bronze- Ali GHEYTASI (IRI) df. Abolfazl FALLAHDOUST (IRI), 3-1
Bronze- Robert KOBLISHVILI (GEO) df. Ahmed OTHMAN (EGY), 3-1

Semifinals
Zhan BELENYUK (UKR) df. Ali GHEYTASI (IRI), 4-0
Davoud ABEDINZADEH (IRI) df.  Robert KOBLISHVILI (GEO), 1-0

98kg (13 wrestlers)
Gold- Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) df. Dimitriy TIMCHENKO (UKR), 3-0
Bronze- Xiao DI (CHN) df. Mohammad KAZEMI (IRI), 2-1
Bronze- Irakli KAJAIA (GEO) df. Mehdi KESHAVARZ (IRI) by TF, 11-3

Semifinals
Seyed Mostafa SALEHIZADEH (IRI) df. Di XIAO (CHN), 10-4
Dimitriy TIMCHENKO (UKR) df. Irakli KAJAIA (GEO) by FALL

130kg (12 wrestlers)
Gold- Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI) df. Amir GHASEMI MONJAZI (IRI), 2-1
Bronze- Arman NAZARI (IRI) df. Mykola KUCHMI (UKR) by TF, 8-0
Bronze- Meng QIANG (CHN) df. Sandro DIKLAMINJIA (GEO), 2-2

Semifinals
Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI) df. Mykola KUCHMI (UKR) by TF, 8-0
Amir GHASEMI MONJAZI (IRI) df. Sandro DIKLAMINJIA (GEO), 6-2

Greco-Roman team rankings: 1-Iran 73 pts. 2- Ukraine 50 pts. 3- China 45 pts. 4- Georgia 43 pts. 5- Egypt 20 pts. 6- Azerbaijan 14 pts.

Pahlevani Wrestling + 90kg
(30 wrestlers – 8 Iranians and 22 foreigners)
Gold- Jaber SADEGHZADEH (IRI) df. Amir MOHAMMADI (IRI), 8-2
Bronze – Ahmad MIRZAPOUR (IRI) df. Georgy MMESHVILDSHVILI (GEO), 6-2

Pahlevani prizes: gold medal winner ($20,000) – Silver medal winner ($12,000)- bronze medal winner ($8000)