Tehran, March 21: The Iranian freestyle wrestling team has been defeated by its archrival Russia to finish runner-up at the 2011 Freestyle World Cup Dagestan.
The Iranian wrestlers lost the final encounter 5-2 on Sunday in the Republic of Dagestan.
Mostafa Hosseinkhani in the 66-kilogram category and Ehsan Amini in the 84-kilogram category beat their Russian rivals in the final.
Earlier in the day, Iran defeated Cuba 5-2 to face Russia in the final. The match against Cuba had been originally scheduled for Saturday evening, but it was postponed despite objections by the Iranian squad.
Iran’s manager Gholam Mohammadi protested the decision by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) to postpone Iran’s match with Cuba, saying it was made under “Russian influence.”
The Iranian outfit clinched three victories on the first day of the two-day event.
Iran beat Azerbaijan 4-3 in its first match held on Saturday in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. On the same day, Iran thrashed Hungary (reinforced by Kazakhstan) 6-1 and defeated Georgia 5-2 to top Group B.
Russia made it to the final match after three wins over Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.
——–Agencies