Iranian kurash wrestlers rank 2nd in Asian championships

Iranian male and female kurash wrestlers have ended their campaign at the 2018 Asian Championships in India, and finished as the runner-up of the continental contest.

The Persians claimed the second position, having won three gold medals, three silvers and two bronzes. Uzbekistan was named the top-ranked team with eleven gold medals, four silvers and one bronze.

India finished in the third place with one gold, two silvers and 13 bronzes.

Elias Aliakbari, Mohammad Malekmohammadi and Ja’far Pahlevani won three gold medals for the Iranian delegation in the men’s minus 81-kilogram, minus 90-kilogram and over 90-kilogram weight categories at the end of their competitions at the Yerwada Sports Complex in the western Indian city of Pune.

Additionally, Omid Tiztak, Ghasem Ahadi and Mohammad Ali Zakeri clinched three silver medals in the minus 81-kilogram, minus 90-kilogram and over 90-kilogram sections respectively.

Mahtab Baghchi and Zahra Bagheri pocketed Iran’s two bronze medals of the competition in the women’s minus 70-kilogram and minus 78-kilogram weight classes.

The 2018 Asian Kurash Championships started on March 22, and finished on March 25.

The sports event attracted tens of wrestlers from various Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Chinese Taipei, Iran, South Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The Turkmen national wrestling competition, kurash (also written as goresh), is a kind of wrestling on belts that has ancient roots, and dates back to as early as the third century BC. Wrestlers need to earn points by forcing the opponent to touch the mat with any part of the body except a foot.

Kurash competitions are staged in four formats, namely round, shootout, mixed and team.

During the round format contests, athletes compete with all wrestlers in the same weight category. If there are many wrestlers in one weight division, the participants are divided into two groups. Wrestlers who earn the first and second places in each group will be in action for the final showdowns.

Wrestlers are eliminated from the rest of the competition once they lose in the shootout format.

In the mixed format, wrestlers start with the round format for the preliminary round and then shift to the shootout format.

According to the team format, only one athlete from each weight category of a team is allowed to participate. Participating teams will fight one-on-one in the competitions.

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