On Friday, the Iranians overpowered their Russian counterparts 6-2 at Shohaday-e Haftom-e-Tir Sports Hall in Tehran.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei sent a congratulatory message, heaping praise on the Iranian wrestlers for bringing happiness to the Iranian nation.

Iranian six-time world medalist and London 2012 Olympic Games champion, Hamid Sourian, downed his Russian counterpart 6-5 in the 59-kilogram weight category.

Other wins were achieved by Saeed Abdevali (3-0), Habibollah Akhlaqi (8-0), Taleb Nematpour (2-1), Mehdi Aliari (3-1) and Bashir Babajanzadeh (9-0) in the 71-kilogram, 80-kilogram, 85-kilogram, 98-kilogram and 130-kilogram weight categories.

Omid Norouzi, competing in the 66-kilogram weight category, lost to his counterpart 6-8. So did Farshad Alizadeh (0-11) in the 75-kilogram weight category.

The 2014 World Cup of Greco-Roman wrestling opened in Tehran on Thursday and wrapped up on Friday. A total of 10 teams participated in the two-day competitions.

Iran was drawn in Group B along with Azerbaijan, Armenia, South Korea and Finland. Group A consisted of defending champion Russia, Hungary, the United States, Turkey and Kazakhstan.

SHI/SHI