I N T E R N A T I O N A L D A I L Y DECEMBER 14, 2019 SPORTS 15 Iran keeper Beiranvand selling Sepahan move top of IPL Portugal match worn shirt to SPORTS TEHRAN — Sepahan deskdefeated Paykan 2-0 to raise cash for charity move top of the Iran Professional League (IPL) table on Friday. 1 Beiranvand auctioned his shirt which he wore in the Giorgi Gvelesiani gave Sepahan the lead match against Portugal in the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage. from penalty spot in the 21st minute and Omid Noorafkan extended the lead with a long-range shot in the 42nd minute. Sepahan moved top of the table with 28 points, followed by Esteghlal (26 points) and Persepolis (25 points) with one game in hand. “First, I would like to congratulate Paykan for their good performance. I am satisfied with the way we played against them. We could have scored more goals but our strikers missed their chances,” Sepahan coach Amir Ghalenoei said in the post-match news conference. Earlier on the day, Shahr Khodro were held to a goalless draw by Nassaji in The Iran goalie saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo in Mazandaran. the match which ended in a 1-1 draw. In Tabriz, Tractor edged Foolad 1-0, The funds will be used to build a clinic, school and sports hall thanks to Reza Asadi’s 73rd minute goal. for the earthquake victims in Lorestan. It was Tractor’s first win after five matches. Beiranvand, who currently plays for Iranian club Persepolis, Tractor parted company with Mustafa also was a candidate for the 2019 AFC Player of the Year. Denizli last week and are headed by Ahad Sheikhlari who takes charge of the team as interim coach. On Saturday, Persepolis will meet Saipa 10 countries expected to attend in Tehran’s Shahr-e Qods Stadium. IPL is the highest division of professional top-level football league in Iran since its League become the Iranian football cham- Takhti Int’l Wrestling Cup Esteghlal will also play rock-bottom football in Iran. The league was also known foundation on Nov. 2, 2001. pions, and the lowest finishing teams are Shahin Bushehr at the Azadi Stadium. as the Persian Gulf Cup from 2006. It is the Each year, the top finishing team in the relegated to Azadegan League. IRNA — Some 10 countries are expected to attend Takhti Int’l Wrestling Cup to be held in northwestern Kermanshah, said Iran ascend in FIFA Women’s Iran lose to the U.S. at FINA World head of the provincial Wrestling Department. Mohammad Hossein Mohebbi said that the 40th Takhti Int’l World Rankings Junior Water Polo Wrestling Cup will be held in Kermanshah city on January 8-10. Noting that competitions will be held on three mats and ten weights, he added that five to seven wrestlers can take part in each weight. Last year, Iran captured six gold medals and became cham- pion of the ‘Takhti Cup 2019 International Freestyle Wrestling Tournament’. Iran with 215 points, Azerbaijan with 112 points and Kyrgyzstan with 104 points ranked 1st to 3rd, respectively. Gholam Reza Takhti (1930-1968) was an Iranian Olympic Gold-Medalist wrestler and traditional Iranian bodybuilding (known as ‘Varzesh-e Bastani’ in Iran) practitioner. Because of his chivalrous behavior and sportsmanship, he was the most popular athlete of Iran in the 20th century, although dozens of Iranian athletes have won more international medals than he did. Ex-Italy U21 coach Mangia linked with Tractor SPORTS TEHRAN — Iran Japan are close on their heels in the SPORTS TEHRAN — Iran lost Group A consists of Serbia, Japan, South PLDC — Devis Mangia reportedly is a candidate to take charge deskhave moved up in 10th position. deskto the U.S. 27-4 at the Africa, Croatia and China. of Iranian football team Tractor. the FIFA Women’s World Rankings DPR Korea are third in Asia and 11th FINA World Men’s Junior Water Polo Russia, Canada, Canada, Spain, Hungary Turkish coach Mustafa Denizli stepped down as Tractor coach released on Friday. in the world. Championships 2019 on Friday. and Egypt in Group B. last week following poor results and now the Tabriz-based team’s The Iranian team have climbed up World champions USA remain top, Iran, who had started the campaign with Brazil, Uzbekistan, Greece, Australia officials are going to hire Mangia, La Gazzetta dello Sport jour- one place to be ranked 70th in the world followed by Germany and the Nether- a 15-7 win over Kuwait on Thursday, will and New Zealand are in Group D. nalist Nicolo Schira has tweeted. and seventh in Asia. lands. meet Italy on Saturday. The FINA World Men’s Junior Water Australia are still the No. 1 Asian The next FIFA Women’s World Rank- Iran have been drawn in Group C along Polo Championships 2019 is being held team, sitting seventh in the world while ing will be published on 27 March 2020. with Montenegro, Kuwait, the U.S., and Italy. in Kuwait from Dec. 12 to 20. Jahanbakhsh determined to get back The midfielder got his first Premier League minutes of the last summer and made 24 appearances in all competitions season when he entered the action against Wolves on Sun- during his debut campaign in England. He reflected on last day afternoon as a second half substitute, and emphasized season, and his development both on and off the field since his desire to continue adapting to Graham Potter’s style of arriving at the Albion. play with the Seagulls. “I’ve been here in England now for a year and a He said, “I have been working really hard and trying to half, and perhaps I haven’t showed what I am really get used to the way that the head coach wants the team to capable of, but I’m eager to make sure I do this season,” play. It’s obviously different to what we did last season, but he continued. it’s been a good week for the side. “During the first year I had to learn a lot about the “I try to work hard, as professional players you have to Premier League. I was pretty sure that this season would train well and be in a good shape for when the head coach be quite a good season for me because I have learned a gives you a chance. “Every player wants to play matches, but I am very happy lot, with the country and everything else that comes with “The new head coach expects new things from the players here. The team is playing well and I’m learning every day. moving football club. Mangia started his coaching career at Varese in 2004 and and obviously I try to train the way that he wants me to. I I try to just adapt myself to the way the manager wants me “It has been different to what I am used to, but I’ve been took charge of Italy U21 in 2012. have always been working hard, and will continue to do so to play, and I am going to work hard to get more chances.” in a good shape and enjoying training, so I am going to work Tractor were the favorites to win first ever Iran Professional to be ready for when the head coach needs me. The Iranian arrived on the south coast from AZ Alkmaar hard to get more chances.” League title at the start of the season but now sit ninth in the table. How foreign football coaches in Iran are collateral damage to US sanctions Five weightlifters to Hundreds of Iranians demanded the return of a foreign worker in Iran. The first one in- “The club should have been clear when the allegedly not paying them what they were owed represent Iran at Qatar Cup Italian football manager Andrea Stramaccioni. volves bringing cash to Dubai or the United contract was signed and say there would be for qualifying for the last two World Cups. Stramaccioni, who previously managed Arab Emirates from where bank transfers problems with the sanctions,” Hosseini said. Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei Inter Milan and Udinese, quit as head coach can then be made; the second one involves He added that the players, who have largely has also said that there is “no need” to hire TASNIM — Iran will dispatch five weightlifters to the 6th Qatar of Tehran’s Esteghlal FC on Sunday over money changers who move the salary from rallied around Stramaccioni, had also not be foreign coaches. International Weightlifting Cup. failed payments. the Iranian branch to a foreign one and then paid in months or with cheques that bounced. Abbas Iraghchi, the country’s Deputy For- The competition will be held in Doha, Qatar from December 19 to 24. The reason? US sanctions. to the final recipient’s account. Former Belgium manager Marc Wil- eign Affairs Minister has said that the matter Ali Miri, Ayoub Mousavi and Kianoush Rostami will take part Esteghlal FC — which under Stramac- However, significant sums still raise red mots’s departure as the Iranian national would soon be resolved while a spokesman for in the men’s division and Elham Hosseini and Parisa Jahanfe- cioni’s stewardship has risen to the top flags. Stramaccioni’s two-year contract with team’s manager earlier this year after only the Ministry of Sport said that negotiations krian will compete in the women’s division. of the country’s first league — is owned the club is believed to have been worth around six months in the job may also have precip- have begun with the Italian ambassador in The event is approved by the International Weightlifting by the Iranian state and his salary is €1.6 million.