Press TV- Iranian athlete Mostafa Dalirian has been named the world's best kurash wrestler for the year 2016, thanks to his impressive displays at 2016 Taiwan Beach Kurash International Championships and 2016 Cheongju World Martial Arts Masterships.

Reza Nasirnejad, a senior official at the Islamic Republic of Iran Judo & Kurash Federation, said on Saturday that Dalirian scooped the honors at the Extraordinary Congress of Kurash Confederation of Asia in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, earlier this month.

Nasirnejad added that he maintained his position in the confederation’s presiding board even though the number of its members was reduced to five from the original thirteen.

The top Iranian sports official was also elected the President of  the Organizing and Training Committee and Disciplinary Committee at Kurash Confederation of Asia.

Experienced Mohammad Reza Minookadeh was picked the head of the Referees Committee as well.

Nasirnejad further noted that the northeastern Iranian city of Bojnourd, situated about 701 kilometers northeast of the capital Tehran, is set to host the 2017 Asian Junior Kurash Championship, while an international beach kurash tournament is slated to be staged in the Caspian Sea coastal city of Chalus next summer.

Additionally, Komil Ruziev was elected the new president of Kurash Confederation of Asia, replacing Haidar Farman who had held the post since 2013.

The Turkmen national wrestling competition, kurash (also written as goresh), is a kind of wrestling on belts that has ancient roots, and dates back to as early as the 3rd century BC. Wrestlers need to earn points by forcing the opponent to touch the mat with any part of the body except a foot.

Kurash competitions are staged in four formats, namely round, shootout, mixed and team.

During the round format contests, athletes compete with all wrestlers in the same weight category. If there are many wrestlers in one weight division, the participants are divided into two groups. Wrestlers who earn the first and second places in each group will be in action for the final showdowns.

Wrestlers are eliminated from the rest of the competition once they lose in the shootout format.

In the mixed format, wrestlers start with the round format for the preliminary round and then shift to the shootout format.

According to the team format, only one athlete from each weight category of a team is allowed to participate. Participating teams will fight one-on-one in the competitions.