(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Iranian grapplers stole the limelight on the opening day of the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship that got under way at Aspire Academy here yesterday.
Spurred with good support from fans, the Iranians clinched two gold medals to ensure a flying start to their campaign in the five-day championship.
A total of 30 countries from around the world are taking part in the coveted event that begun with a simple but impressive opening ceremony.
Masoud Mahmoud secured the first gold medal for Iran when he was adjudged the winner of 65kg free style final against Ishida Tomotsugu of Japan after the bout ended with a score of 1-1. Pliev Ruslan of Uzbekistan won bronze medal in the category after overcoming Hwang Ryong Hak of North Korea in the third position match.
Alireza Mohammed was crowned Asian champion in the 86kg freestyle after a thrilling fight against Matsumoto Atsushi of Japan. Trailing 2-0, Mohammed made a brilliant fightback with an aggressive display to turn the bout in his favour. He won the bout 6-3 to ensure second gold medal for Iran.
Iran also won a silver and bronze medal with Komeil Nemat losing 125kg final to Aiaal Lazarev of Kyrgyzstan. Younes Firouz added a bronze medal with 10-0 victory over Nodirjon Safarov in 57kg.
Meanwhile, three-time Olympics gold medalist and nine-time world champion Icho Kaori lived up to expectations to win the only gold medal of the day for Japan.
She outclassed Tynybekova Aisuluu of Kyrgyzstan with one-sided score of 10-0 in the female wrestling 58kg category. The bronze medal in the category went to Adildina Aiym of Kazakhstan who defeated South Korea's Kyeon Kim 3-0. Mongolia and Uzbekistan also won a gold medal each on the first day. Bekhbayar Erdenebat won the premier medal for Mongolia in 57kg free style after winning against Nadyrbrek Samat of Kyrgyzstan.
Gheeta Phogat secured the only medal of the day for India when she prevailed over Thi Loan Nguyen of Vietnam 3-0 in the third position match. Pakistan's Mohammad Inam missed the chance to win bronze for his country as he suffered a
10-8 defeat to Usukhbaatar Purevee of Mongolia after a tough fight.
Today's qualification matches will start at 9am while the finals will start from 6pm.
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