Iran and the US split the last two matches at the opening day of the World Freestyle Championships Friday.
Iran's Hadi Habibi beat Joe Williams 3-1 in overtime in the 73kg class. Two minutes later Cael Sanderson defeated Majid Khodaee of Iran 8-2 at 83kg. US wrestlers had won their first 20 matches in the two sessions of pool competition before the two highly anticipated matchups between American and Iranian wrestlers.
"We train to win every match. We were excited about our performance, but we feel as bad about the one loss as we are happy about the 21 wins," US coach Bobby Douglas said.
PHOTO: AFP
Williams was thrown for three points as overtime began and the contingent of Iranian fans erupted and the crowd estimated at 6,000 chanted back and forth.
Eric Guerrero of the US won two matches at 59kg, including a 3-1 overtime win over Mohammad Talaei of Iran.
Other American victories included Sara McMann pinning world silver medallist Sara Erikkson of Sweden at 62kg and Stephen Abas winning twice in overtime at 54kg, including a 3-1 victory over 2002 Olympic gold medallist Abdullaev Yadulla of Azerbaijan.
"I set a goal a long time ago to be a world champion," Abas said. "I have to clear the pool to do that."
Svetlana Martynenko of Russia upset women's world 67kg champion Katerina Burmistrova of Ukraine 3-1 in the first session of the pool competiton at the World Freestyle Championships.
Also, Tanabe Chickara of Japan edged 2001 world 55kg champion German Kontoev of Belarus 11-10 at Madison Square Garden.
The world freestyle championships were to be held in New York in September 2001, but were moved to Bulgaria following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to