AZARBAYJANI BEATS ARMENIAN TO ADVANCE TO QUARTER-FINALS
Canwest News Service
August 18, 2008 Monday
BEIJING – Saeed Azarbayjani’s Canadian Olympic dream, 13 years in
the making, is off to an impressive start.
The 33-year-old from of St. Catharines, Ont., who left his native
Iran 13 years ago and fled to Canada as a refugee, dominated two-time
Olympian Martin Berberyan of Armenia 2-0 in round-of-16 action in
men’s 60-kg freestyle wrestling Tuesday at the China Agricultural
University Gymnasium.
Berberyan, 28, finished sixth at the 2000 Sydney Games and was also
a bronze medallist at the 2005 world championships.
"It was a great tactical match, but I thought he handled the pressure
very well," said Azarbayjani’s coach, Marty Calder. "(Monday) he
was pretty nervous, but (Tuesday) he settled down and wrestled a
fantastic match."
Interestingly, Azarbayjani’s quarter-final opponent later Tuesday
will be Iran’s Mohammadi Seyedmorad, the 2006 world champion in this
weight class.
"They just keep coming," Calder said. "It’s good competition at this
weight class, but so far, he looks great."
To qualify for the Olympics, Azarbayjani, the assistant wrestling
coach at Brock University, defeated three-time Canadian Olympian
and 1996 silver medallist Gia Sissaouri of Montreal at the Canadian
Olympic trials.