2020 Tokyo Olympics - Schedule and live report

[Nokhodi]

Why we have only 2 in weightlifting?

Too many federations got caught doping. They lumped us in with the big dopers (Russia and other East European countries).

[Babak500]

anyone knows the chances of Hamideh Abbasali in Karate?

[KC McElroy]

Kimia Alizadeh, who left Iran citing institutional sexism, will face Nahid Kiyani Chandeh in the 57-kilogram class on Sunday.

[_Navid_]

Navid you are my hero! Thank you for this!
BTW how do our medal chances look? Aside from Yazdani anyone else expected for gold?

You are very welcome Arvin!

Since a lot of people are asking and discussing about medals I am going to give my thoughts here. Note that it would be easier to predict after draws for some sports like wrestling are out:

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Boxing - We did come very close to a boxing medal in a couple of occasions in previous Olympics. This year we have Danial Shahbakhsh who is a promising young boxer with Asian medals. I would give it a 10-15% medal chance depending on the draw.

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Fencing- Abedini was a single point from reaching the final and getting at least a silver in Rio. He was robbed IMO. He is in good form and is coming to get his deserved medal in the individual category. We also have a strong team Sabre who has qualified as only one of the 8 qualified teams!! So basically they need to win 1 match to reach the semis and win 2 to guarantee a medal. But the competition is very strong with Korea, USA and Italy present. I would give it a combined probability of 30-40% for team or individual medal this year.

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Karate- I am still depressed due to Asgari, world champ and #1 rank missing due to doping caused by a fertility medicine! He was our overall #1 gold medal chance this year.

Sajjad Ganjzadeh - Potential: Gold, prediction: Silver/bronze. (The issue is this Olympic weight is a combination of -84kg and +84kg Karate weights so even though Sajjad is the best in his own weight there is a Turkish guy better than him overall)

Hamideh Abbasali - Potential: Gold, prediction: Bronze. (If we are to get any female medals this year, she is the most likely one)

Sara Bahmanyar - Potential: Bronze, prediction: No medal.

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Shooting- This is honestly the hardest sport to predict. It is all about the nerves on the day and Iranian athletes usually don't handle the pressure too well. We have 6 athletes and honestly most of them have at some point scored points that is good enough for an Olympic medal. We had Elahe Ahmadi who reached the final in 2012 and 2016 and both times finished 6th. So the potential is there and needs more focus. I would say we have 20% medal chance here.

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Taekwondo- Our results in Rio showed Olympics is a different ball game compared to world champs and Grand Prix tournaments. We had the "Tsunami" and the "Terminator" who hadn't lost in 2 years before Rio and suddenly crumbled in the Olympics.

Armin Hadipour - Potential: Silver/bronze, prediction: no medal. (This guy literally never comes back from competitions empty handed! He usually has a contract with silver/bronze medals. However he is suffering from a really bad knee injury and has postponed his surgery for after the games. For this reason alone I am not sure he can medal here.)

MirHashem Hosseini - Potential: Gold, prediction: Bronze. (He is an incredible Taekwondo athlete with very entertaining style of play. He has beaten all his opponents in this weight before. Unfortunately he has a very tough draw and will face the favourite Dae Hoon Lee in the quarter finals. If he wins that match don't be surprised if he goes all the way.)

Nahid Kiani (She has to face Kimia and if she wins that will face Jade Jones, double Olympic champion. She won't go past 2nd round)

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Volleyball - Potential: Semi-final, prediction: Quarter final (Hopefully like 2016 we can go past our group by beating Venezuela and Japan/Canada but any of the top 4 teams from the other group will cause us trouble in quarters)

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Wightlifting- Our most regressed sport since Rio. What a pity that none of Rostami and Moradi who were competing for the same spot made it.

Ali Hashemi - Potential: Bronze, prediction: no medal. (Top 2 in this weight from Eastern Europe are far ahead of others. Hashemi has to be on his best to compete with several others for bronze!)

Ali Davoudi - Potential: Silver, prediction: Silver/bronze. (The gold in this weight is not even up for debate. The Georgian giant is coming to set incredible records in Tokyo. He might even attempt the 500kg total. Davoudi on paper has the 2nd best records.)

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Wrestling - Freestyle- Medals in the bottom 3 weights are out of reach. Those weights are stacked with many better wrestlers.

Hassan Yazdani - Potential: Gold, prediction: Gold/silver/bronze. (He is the 1 person who will 100% medal. The colour though depends on the outcome of his match with David Taylor. Let's pray they won't face in the first round)

Mohammad Hossein Mohamadian - Potential: Bronze, prediction: 5th. (This guy on his good day is a beast. I mean he teched world/Olympic champion Kyle Snyder in 1 minute. But the gold here will be for the best wrestler in the world, the Russian tank. With a good draw and avoiding Sadulaev/Snyder/Sharifov till later stages he might medal.)

Amir Hossein Zare - Potential: Gold, prediction: Bronze/5th. (Our most promising young wrestler. Everyone says the final in this weight will be between Akgul and Petriashvili. But Zare and the young American are the dark horse. Zare has a great stamina, in the final of Iranian wrestling league he came back from 11-2 down against Petriashvili to win 15-11)

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Wrestling - Greco roman- Overall we have a stronger Greco team this year compared to freestyle. 4 out of 5 are medal chances

Alireza Nejati - Potential: Bronze, prediction: top 5. (22 years old who won world bronze medal in his first attendance when he was 20. But this is a very hard weight with many great contenders)

Mohammad reza Geraei - Potential: Bronze, prediction: no medal. (He has less chance than his big bro to medal but he is very technical and his matches are fun to watch)

Mohammad ali Geraei - Potential: Gold, prediction: bronze. (Our most technical Greco wrestler. He can beat anyone in this weight in his good day. Our biggest hope for a medal in Greco.)

Mohammad Hadi Saravi - Potential: Bronze, prediction: Bronze. (23 year old. Those following him closely say he is in incredible form this year and he did great in Poland. There 2/3 better wrestlers in this weight but with a good draw he can medal.)

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To summarize I believe we will finish with a single gold this year. We could get a couple of silvers but our bronze numbers will be higher.

[PSGman#19]

Footballi site has also the program for our athletes

[Babak500]

The recent downfall of Iranian sports, even in Wrestling and Weightlifting is quite depressing.

[KC McElroy]

LOL 8-0ers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Soosk]

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us. We appreciate your contribution greatly.

You are very welcome Arvin!

Since a lot of people are asking and discussing about medals I am going to give my thoughts here. Note that it would be easier to predict after draws for some sports like wrestling are out:

---------------------------------------------

Boxing - We did come very close to a boxing medal in a couple of occasions in previous Olympics. This year we have Danial Shahbakhsh who is a promising young boxer with Asian medals. I would give it a 10-15% medal chance depending on the draw.

---------------------------------------------

Fencing- Abedini was a single point from reaching the final and getting at least a silver in Rio. He was robbed IMO. He is in good form and is coming to get his deserved medal in the individual category. We also have a strong team Sabre who has qualified as only one of the 8 qualified teams!! So basically they need to win 1 match to reach the semis and win 2 to guarantee a medal. But the competition is very strong with Korea, USA and Italy present. I would give it a combined probability of 30-40% for team or individual medal this year.

---------------------------------------------

Karate- I am still depressed due to Asgari, world champ and #1 rank missing due to doping caused by a fertility medicine! He was our overall #1 gold medal chance this year.

Sajjad Ganjzadeh - Potential: Gold, prediction: Silver/bronze. (The issue is this Olympic weight is a combination of -84kg and +84kg Karate weights so even though Sajjad is the best in his own weight there is a Turkish guy better than him overall)

Hamideh Abbasali - Potential: Gold, prediction: Bronze. (If we are to get any female medals this year, she is the most likely one)

Sara Bahmanyar - Potential: Bronze, prediction: No medal.

---------------------------------------------

Shooting- This is honestly the hardest sport to predict. It is all about the nerves on the day and Iranian athletes usually don't handle the pressure too well. We have 6 athletes and honestly most of them have at some point scored points that is good enough for an Olympic medal. We had Elahe Ahmadi who reached the final in 2012 and 2016 and both times finished 6th. So the potential is there and needs more focus. I would say we have 20% medal chance here.

---------------------------------------------

Taekwondo- Our results in Rio showed Olympics is a different ball game compared to world champs and Grand Prix tournaments. We had the "Tsunami" and the "Terminator" who hadn't lost in 2 years before Rio and suddenly crumbled in the Olympics.

Armin Hadipour - Potential: Silver/bronze, prediction: no medal. (This guy literally never comes back from competitions empty handed! He usually has a contract with silver/bronze medals. However he is suffering from a really bad knee injury and has postponed his surgery for after the games. For this reason alone I am not sure he can medal here.)

MirHashem Hosseini - Potential: Gold, prediction: Bronze. (He is an incredible Taekwondo athlete with very entertaining style of play. He has beaten all his opponents in this weight before. Unfortunately he has a very tough draw and will face the favourite Dae Hoon Lee in the quarter finals. If he wins that match don't be surprised if he goes all the way.)

Nahid Kiani (She has to face Kimia and if she wins that will face Jade Jones, double Olympic champion. She won't go past 2nd round)

---------------------------------------------

Volleyball - Potential: Semi-final, prediction: Quarter final (Hopefully like 2016 we can go past our group by beating Venezuela and Japan/Canada but any of the top 4 teams from the other group will cause us trouble in quarters)

---------------------------------------------

Wightlifting- Our most regressed sport since Rio. What a pity that none of Rostami and Moradi who were competing for the same spot made it.

Ali Hashemi - Potential: Bronze, prediction: no medal. (Top 2 in this weight from Eastern Europe are far ahead of others. Hashemi has to be on his best to compete with several others for bronze!)

Ali Davoudi - Potential: Silver, prediction: Silver/bronze. (The gold in this weight is not even up for debate. The Georgian giant is coming to set incredible records in Tokyo. He might even attempt the 500kg total. Davoudi on paper has the 2nd best records.)

---------------------------------------------

Wrestling - Freestyle- Medals in the bottom 3 weights are out of reach. Those weights are stacked with many better wrestlers.

Hassan Yazdani - Potential: Gold, prediction: Gold/silver/bronze. (He is the 1 person who will 100% medal. The colour though depends on the outcome of his match with David Taylor. Let's pray they won't face in the first round)

Mohammad Hossein Mohamadian - Potential: Bronze, prediction: 5th. (This guy on his good day is a beast. I mean he teched world/Olympic champion Kyle Snyder in 1 minute. But the gold here will be for the best wrestler in the world, the Russian tank. With a good draw and avoiding Sadulaev/Snyder/Sharifov till later stages he might medal.)

Amir Hossein Zare - Potential: Gold, prediction: Bronze/5th. (Our most promising young wrestler. Everyone says the final in this weight will be between Akgul and Petriashvili. But Zare and the young American are the dark horse. Zare has a great stamina, in the final of Iranian wrestling league he came back from 11-2 down against Petriashvili to win 15-11)

---------------------------------------------

Wrestling - Greco roman- Overall we have a stronger Greco team this year compared to freestyle. 4 out of 5 are medal chances

Alireza Nejati - Potential: Bronze, prediction: top 5. (22 years old who won world bronze medal in his first attendance when he was 20. But this is a very hard weight with many great contenders)

Mohammad reza Geraei - Potential: Bronze, prediction: no medal. (He has less chance than his big bro to medal but he is very technical and his matches are fun to watch)

Mohammad ali Geraei - Potential: Gold, prediction: bronze. (Our most technical Greco wrestler. He can beat anyone in this weight in his good day. Our biggest hope for a medal in Greco.)

Mohammad Hadi Saravi - Potential: Bronze, prediction: Bronze. (23 year old. Those following him closely say he is in incredible form this year and he did great in Poland. There 2/3 better wrestlers in this weight but with a good draw he can medal.)

---------------------------------------------

To summarize I believe we will finish with a single gold this year. We could get a couple of silvers but our bronze numbers will be higher.

[Medzdidz]

In the rowing at the moment is a a guy called Dara Alizadeh - he is rowing for Bermuda and is of Iranian, Bermudan and British descent.

[Medzdidz]

Iranian rower now in women’s single sculls.

[Medzdidz]

Halfway point she is in second , top three to go straight through to quarter finals.

[Medzdidz]

She finished third and qualified to the quarter finals , well done.

[diz]

[AIrani]

THANKS.

Happy to see the team. They are in tough group. I hope they advance.
Good Olympic experience.

[PrinceAli]

Hope the basketball team can keep the games respectably close at least. Maybe upset Czech. USA and France will be extremely tough. Although the USA team hasn't been impressive in their exhibitions leading up to the olympics, they still have elite talent.

America's only weakness comes from them not being used to FIBA rules and lack of chemistry. Fully expect them to win the Gold regardless though

If Serbia could have had Nikola Jokic and their other NBA players during the OQ tournament, they would have been the biggest challenge to the US

As things stand, the top medalists will likely be USA, France, and Spain. Dark horse will be Slovenia with the phenom Luka Doncic.