Iranian Greco-Roman team adds gold, silver at 2026 UWW Ulaanbaatar Open

Iran added one gold and one silver medal on the second day of the 2026 Ulaanbaatar Open Ranking Series in Mongolia, with Ali Ahmadi Vafa winning the 60kg title and Mohammad Mehdi Keshtkar finishing runner-up at 63kg.

The Ulaanbaatar Open, held from June 4-7 in the Mongolian capital, is the third stop of this year’s United World Wrestling Ranking Series and serves as a key ranking event ahead of the 2026 World Championships.

Ahmadi Vafa produced a dominant run to the gold medal in the 60kg division. He opened with a 7-1 victory over India’s Sahil to advance to the semifinals.

The Iranian then defeated India’s Sumit 5-2 to reach the final. In the gold-medal bout, Ahmadi Vafa outclassed North Korea’s Yu Chol Ro 10-0 to secure Iran’s third gold medal of the tournament.

Meanwhile, Keshtkar impressed in the 63kg category, which was held in a round-robin format. He began with a 9-0 win over India’s Sunny Kumar before defeating compatriot Erfan Jarkani 6-2.

Keshtkar then registered one of the tournament’s biggest upsets by overpowering Kyrgyzstan’s reigning world champion Zholaman Sharshenbekov 10-1 to top the group and move into the semifinals.

He continued his strong performance with a 9-0 victory against South Korea’s Hyeon-Woong Choi to book his place in the final.

However, Keshtkar was unable to wrestle in the title match against Sharshenbekov due to injury and settled for the silver medal.

Iran had also enjoyed a strong opening day in Ulaanbaatar, where Payam Ahmadi captured gold at 55kg and Danial Sohrabi won the 72kg title after defeating fellow Iranian Mohammad Javad Rezaei in the final. Rezaei took silver to complete a three-medal haul for Iran on the first day.

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