Wrestling: Triple grappling gold for IR Iran

IR Iran scored a stunning victory with a clean sweep of the wrestling finals held at ASPIRE Hall four today, Wednesday 13 December. IR Iran took the gold in the 60kg, 74kg and the 96kg competitions. The Iranians had a second man fighting with them during every bout: the fans.

A massively supportive crowd cheered on the wrestlers' every effort and chanted encouragingly at every opportunity: "Iran, Iran, Iran"¦."

Inspired by the chant, Seyed Morad Mohammedi Pahnehkalaei brought IR Iran their first wrestling gold medal at the 15th Asian Games when he won the 60kg freestyle final. Pahnehkalaei outclassed the 2002 Asian Games silver medallist Song Jae Myung of Korea in just two rounds.

Korea's wrestler was unable to earn a single point against the dominant Iranian. Mohammedi Pahnehkalaei's win turned around IR Iran's fortunes at Doha 2006 after losing their last four wrestling finals.

The Iranian set the tone for the match early on by seizing hold of Song and flipping him over for the only three-pointer of the match, his fans egging him on with chants of 'Iran, Iran, Iran. . . .'

In an earlier medal bout, Yogeshwar Dutt of India won the first bronze medal of the evening in a close match. Dutt, fifth at the 2006 world championship, was the stronger player.

He beat Bauyrzhan Orazgaliyev of Kazakhstan by flipping his opponent on to his back for the winning two points with just seven seconds left in the close three-round fight.

Asian Champion from 2005. Ri Yong Chol of DPR Korea outclassed opponent Gao Feng of China after taking control of the bout early in round one. And he continued his strong form to take the second round and with it the second 60kg bronze medal.

After his win, Mohammedi Pahnehkalaei told reporters, "I am so happy for myself and also for my country.I am very happy because this is my first gold medal in Asian Games and also the first gold medal in wrestling for my country.

"I would like to thank all the spectators who came to cheer and support me for this match and special thanks to Iranian spectators who helped me win.I wish to participate and do well at the Olympic Games in China in 2008."

His opponent, Song Jae Myu said the loss was a disappointment, "I feel bad that I did not win the gold medal. This is the last game for me because I will retire now.

"My wife is expecting and I wish I could have won the gold medal for my baby. I wish to be a proud father. I got an injury in my leg and I was not able to perform well."

In the 74kg final, Chon Byung Kwan of Korea met Ali Asghar Bazrighaleh of IR Iran and had a tough first round, ending just ahead on 1-2.

But the second round saw the two wrestlers embroiled in a close finght with neither giving way. With barely a second to go the fight looked to be heading for a tie-break when Bazrighaleh brought down the 2002 Asian Games winner for a point, which gave him the round and the match.

"I am so happy. I came here to get a gold and I got it. I put all my efforts into getting it. My beginning was good and also the referee was good," said Bazrighaleh. "The players here are all strong and the Asian Games have been wonderful. I thank god for letting me win this gold medal and it is for all the people at these Asian Games."

The third bout paired off Oleg Kallagov of Uzbekistan against Alireza Heidari of IR Iran and the bout took a gruelling 19 minutes and 52 seconds. In that time, the Iranian scored 3-1 over Kallagov, to secure the gold.

The wrestling finishes tomorrow, 14 December.

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006