Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers have won two gold medals in the ongoing 19th edition of the Asian Games in China as a female Iranian skater made history by winning the country’s first-ever medal in the sport.
On Thursday, Iran’s Mohammad Hadi Saravi overcame his Chinese opponent Li Yiming 5-1 in the final bout of men’s 97-kilogram weight class at the Lin’an Sports Culture & Exhibition Center in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, and collected the gold medal.
He had earlier defeated Uzbekistan’s Rustam Assakalov 6-3, before beating Kyrgyzstan’s Uzur Dzhuzupbekov 3-1 and Kazakhstan’s Islam Umayev 8-0 in order to book his place in the final.
Moreover, Greco-Roman wrestler Amin Mirzazadeh claimed Iran’s eighth gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games on Thursday.
He started the men’s 130-kilogram weight class competitions with a 9-0 win over Thailand’s Nanthawat Panphuek. He prevailed over Turkmenistan’s Aybegshazada Kurrayev 9-0 and Alimkhan Syzdykov of Kazakhstan 3-1, before reaching the final.
Mirzazadeh defeated Meng Lingzhe of China by technical point to win a gold medal.
Ahmadi wins Iran’s first medal in roller skating
Iran’s Taraneh Ahmadi also claimed a silver medal in the women’s inline freestyle skating speed slalom in the Asian Games on Thursday.
She lost to her Chinese Taipei rival Chiao-His Liu in the final.
The medal is the first in the history of the sport in Iran.
Yu-En Ting, also from Chinese Taipei, claimed the bronze in the discipline.
A record high of nearly 12,500 athletes from 45 countries and territories compete across 40 sports in the prestigious continental multi-sport event.
Iran has sent 289 male and female athletes to the Games in 34 sports events.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has so far collected a total of 43 medals – eight golds, seventeen silvers, and eighteen bronzes – at the Asian Games, and currently stands in the 10th place.
China leads the standings with 342 medals, including 182 golds. Japan is in the second slot with 159 medals, among them 44 golds, while South Korean athletes rank third, having won 34 golds and 162 medals in total.
