Ashkani reached sporting headlines at the 2000 Asian Wrestling Championships in Seoul, South Korea, where he won his first title in the 58-kg division over Uzbekistan's Dilshod Aripov.

He dominated the field by thrashing Hungary's István Majoros (1–5) and Georgia's Koba Guliashvili in the prelim pool to secure his place in the next round of the tournament.

Ashkani lost the quarterfinal match to eventual silver medalist Kim In-Sub of South Korea with a powerful 3–1 decision, but bounced back to turn down U.S. wrestler Jim Gruenwald on the mat 3–2 for a fifth-place finish.

[5] Ashkani lost two opening matches each to Cuba's Roberto Monzón (1–4) and Turkey's Şeref Tüfenk (1–3), but stunned the home crowd to tame Greek wrestler Christos Gikas with a 1–6 verdict at the end of the prelim pool.

He reaped the men's 60-kg title over South Korea's Kim Keum-Hae at the Summer Universiade in Izmir, Turkey, and then picked up a silver medal from the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, losing out to defending titleholder Armen Nazaryan of Bulgaria due to a three-caution violation by the referee.