Iran hammers Azerbaijan, India at Freestyle World Cup

Iran national freestyle team subdued Azeri and Indian rivals in their first two encounters at 2016 Freestyle World Cup underway in Los Angles.


Iran has been a major force at the Freestyle World Cup in recent years, winning the team title in each of the last four years.


The two-day Freestyle World Cup began on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT at the Forum in Los Angeles where Iran managed to overcome Azerbaijan 5-3.


Later, Iranian wrestlers showed an even better performance in the competition agaisnt India's national team by thrashing their rivals in all weight categories in order to gain an 8-0 victory.


Iranians are led by Hassan Rahimi (57kg), a four-time world medalist and 2013 world champion, and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Komeil Ghasemi (125kg). Rahimi is ranked No.2 in the world, while Ghasemi is No. 6.


Other World medalists competing for Iran include Masoud Esmaeilpoor (61kg) and Sayed Ahmad Mohammadi (65kg), both two-time world medalists, along with Hassan Yazdani (74kg) and Alireza Karimi (86kg).


The top eight nation's from last year's World Championships are competing in one of two groups, A or B. Group A is comprised of Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Mongolia while group B includes Iran, United States, Azerbaijan and India.




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