Four more golds won by Iranian athletes on the eleventh day of 2014 Asian Games have put Kazakhstan within reach on the 4th spot of the overall medals table.
Greco-Roman team's Habibollah Akhlaqi snatched Tuesday's first gold medal for Iran after beating his Japanese rival Tsukasa Tsurumaki in the final of 80-kg weight category. Minutes later in another Greco-Roman final, Iran's 98-kg wrestler Mehdi Aliary crushed China's Zhao Di 8-0 to grab his maiden Asiad gold at Incheon's Dowon Gymnasium.
However, Saeed Abdevali, one-time 71-kg Greco Roman world champion, only managed to win 3rd place in his weight class after defeating India's Krishankant Yadav. A clear winner of a semifinal showdown with his South Korean opponent, Abdevali was declared the loser only because of poor judging whose horrendous scores gave the appearance of home-town favoritism.
In track and field, Olympic silver medalist Ehsan Haddadi won his third consecutive Asiad gold in discus throw. The 2004 world junior champion threw the discus 65.11 meters in his second attempt to win another gold medal for Iran.
Elsewhere at Incheon's taekwondo arena, Masoud Haji-Zavareh grabbed the day's fourth gold for Iran when he overcame Uzbekistan's Nikita Rafailovitch in the middleweight final.
Iran now stands fifth in the medals table with 14 golds, 11 silvers, and 10 bronze medals won during 11 days of various events.
The 17th edition of Asian Games began in South Korea’s northwestern coastal city of Incheon on September 19, and will run through October 4.
Some 9,500 athletes from 45 countries are competing at the Games. The sports event is the world's second-biggest multi-sport event after the summer Olympics, with 439 gold medals in 36 sports up for grabs.
Iran has participated in the tournament with 276 athletes in 22 sports.
