RAN WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONS FOR THE 4TH TIME TEHRAN- September 07 (IranSportsPress.com): Iran has become the world champions in the free style wrestling for the 4th time in history after Mehdi HajiZadeh beat his Russian opponent in the 74 Kg on Saturday afternoon. Iran has won the world championships previously in 1961 (Yokohama), 1965 (Manchester), and 1998 (Tehran). In this year's competition Mehdi HajiZadeh won gold in the 74 Kg, Ali Reza Heydari won silver in 96 Kg, AliReza Dabir won silver in 66 Kg, Majid Khodaei got bronze in 84 Kg, and finally Mohammad Talaei finished 4th in the 60 Kg. At the end of this competition, Iran finished top, with Russia in second. LEADER CONGRATULATES IRANIAN NATION ON BIG VICTORY OF WRESTLERS Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei congratulated the Iranian nation on the victory of the Iranian wrestlers in the 36th World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Tehran. The Supreme Leader wished all success for the athletes of the Iranian wrestling team. Iran became the world champion with Mehdi Hajizadeh winning the gold medal at the 36th World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Tehran. Hajizadeh won the match against Magomed Isagaschiev from Russia in the 74 kg category beating his rival 4-0. He also beat Yavaser Gokhan from Turkey 8-1 in the semifinal. The wresting championships 2002 began in Azadi Sports Complex on Thursday morning with wrestlers in the -55, -66 and -84 kg weight categories stepping onto three mats. Top wrestlers from over 40 countries took part in the event, while Iran and Russia were favorites among main crown-winner hopefuls in the absence of US squad which withdrew from the tourney. The powerful teams of Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Belarussia, Bulgaria, Cuba, Turkey, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Japan, South Korea and Germany were involved in stiff competition. IRAN BECOMES WORLD CHAMPION, MEHDI HAJIZADEH WINS GOLD MEDAL Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Iran became the world champion on Saturday with Mehdi Hajizadeh winning the gold medal at the 36th World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Tehran. Hajizadeh won the match against Magomed Isagaschiev from Russia inthe 74 kg category beating his rival 4-0. He also beat Yavaser Gokhan from Turkey 8-1 in the semifinal. GOLD FOR HAJIZADEH AND IRAN TEHRAN- September 07 (IranSportsPress.com): Mehdi HajiZadeh won the 74 Kg gold in the world championship in Tehran seconds ago, giving Iran its first gold of the competition. Hajizadeh was a class above his Russia opponent and beat him with ease in 6 minutes. Earlier this afternoon, Talaei failed in his attempt to win bronze, and ended up 4th. The Iranian representative in 96 Kg, Heydari, will be going for gold in a few minutes. HAIDARI RECEIVES SILVER from varzeshkar.com VK -- Alireza Haidari, the powerful iranian freestyle wrestler in the 96 KG weight class received silver after a hard fought match against Eldar Kurtanidze of Georgia. Eldar Kurtanidze started a match with a take-down on Haidari in which he was awarded a point. The score stood 1-0 untill after the official 6:00 match where Haidari finally got his first point. Eldar Kurtanidze finished the match by getting two more points as he received gold. Iran will finish the tournament in first place. IRAN IN TOP OF THE 36TH ANNUAL WORLD FREESTYLE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS from varzeshkar.com VK -- Mehdi hajizadeh, the Iranian 74 KG freestylist defeated Magomed Isagaschiev from Russia by the score of 4-0 in the finals of this weight's final to receive gold. In addition of receiving gold, with this win, and Mohammad Talaei's forth place finish Iran will finish the tournament standing in first place. Alireza Haidari is still to wrestle in the finals of 96 KG weight class after beating the Swiss wrestler. DABIR APOLOGIES TO IRANIAN PEOPLE ON NOT TAKING GOLD Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Iranian wrestler Ali Reza Dabir apologized here Saturday to the people for his failure to take the gold in his final bout in the 66 weight category. "I will do may best to make people happy in the next round of championships next year by taking the gold medal," he told IRNA. On his ascension to the 66-kg weight category, he added that changes in weigh categories by the world wrestling governing body (FILA) forced me to enter in a heavier weight category. "I knew better than anybody that I was physically weaker than my opponents", he added. Referring to his defeat to the Ukrainian wrestler in the final, he added, "I had an exhausting bout with my Russian opponent and this depleted me more than ever." He also said that he will immediately begin preparing for next year's world competition. Meanwhile, Iran's multiple world medalist, Dabir, received the silver medal of the 66 weight category in the Tehran 2002 World Freestyle Championships Friday afternoon after losing to Elbrus Tedeev from Ukraine 5-4 in the final. Dabir who was enjoying a tremendous boost from over 12,000 Iranian spectators jammed in the wrestling arena of the Azadi Sports Complex made a disappointing start by losing four points to his strong opponent. However, the Ukrainian wrestler was not able to maintain the dominance and Dabir succeeded in grabbing four points from the world champion Tedeev in a row to make up for the losses. The bout ended in a tie, but it was Tedeev who was finally able toforce a takedown to win the crown of the category during the overtime. This year's silver added to the accomplishments of Dabir who had won the 2001 World silver in the 63 kg, the 2000 Olympics gold medal in the 58 kg in Sydney, and the 1998 World gold medal in 58 kg categories. HEYDARI REACHES FINAL TOO TEHRAN- September 07 (IranSportsPress.com): Alireza Heidari reached the final of 96 Kg on Saturday, becoming Iran's third wrestler reaching the final in this competition after AliReza Dabir, and Mehdi HajiZadeh. Heydari continued his superb form and beat an opponent from Ukraine, Vadim Tasoev, in the semi-final 3-0. Heydari will now face Georgian Eldar Kurtanidze on the last afternoon of the games for gold medal. HEIDARI ROARS INTO 96TH FINAL Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Iran is eyeing the world's 96th gold as the heavyweight freestyle wrestler Alireza Heidari won the semifinal bout Saturday. Clashing against the Ukrainian rep., Vadim Tasoev, in front of an attendance of over 14,000 wrestling-mad flag-waving supporters in the 12,000-seater hall of Tehran's Azadi Sports Complex, Heidari won three points and advanced into final. Heidari, the 1998 gold medalist, defeated Tasoev in the 1999 world event in Ankara with the similar result. The Iranian meets the Georgian Eldar Kurtanidze on Saturday afternoon in the final. HAJIZADEH IN FINAL TEHRAN- September 07 (IranSportsPress.com): Mehdi Hajizadeh Jouybari reached the final of the 74 Kg on Saturday after beating his Turkish opponent in front of nearly 15,000 fans. HajiZadeh was in a different class from the Turkish wrestler, beating him with an amazing score of 8-1. HajiZadeh will now face either Vladimir Sirotin of Ukraine, or Magomed Isagaschiev of Russia. IRAN'S HAJIZADEH DEMOLISHES GOKHAN, ROMPS INTO 74KG FINAL Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Mehdi Hajizadeh Jouybari went a packed 12,000-seater wild with applause as he drubbed Saturday the Turkish Yavaser Gokhan in the 74th bout of the 36th World Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Tehran. Gokhan, who stood 9th in the 2001 Sofia-based world event, was stunned as the i