TEHRAN – Iranian freestyler Hassan Yazdani will not participate at the Individual World Cup in Serbia.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Wrestling Federation (IRIWF) will send four wrestlers to the tournament.

IRIWF president Alireza Dabir has said two freestyle and two Greco-Roman wrestlers will participate in the competition.

Hassan Yazdani, who was chosen as the world’s most popular freestyle wrestler according to a poll by United World Wrestling (UWW) on Thursday, was supposed to represent Iran at the 86kg category but the federation has changed its mind and will send a young wrestler to the competition.  

The federation will also send a young wrestler as 92kg Kamran Ghasempour’s replacement.

Yazdani and Ghasempour will not take part at the Individual World Cup for injury prevention.

Greco-Roman wrestlers Hossein Nouri (87kg) and Mohammadhadi Saravi (97kg) are to represent Iran in the event.

The “Individual World Cup” will be held in Belgrade, Serbia from Dec 12 to 18.

The event will include a prize pool of 300,000 CHF spread evenly across the 30 weight categories.