Iran’s Rezaei wins world taekwondo bronze
Matin Rezaei won a first medal for Iran at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Buku, Azerbaijan – bagging a joint-bronze in the men’s -68kg weight class.
On Monday, Rezaei fell to a 15-13, 21-5 defeat against the British No. 1 seed Bradly Sinden in the semifinals to share the third podium with Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Ulugbek Rashitov of Uzbekistan.
Sinden – beaten by Rashitov in the Olympic final – went on to beat South Korean Jin Ho-jun (3-2, 16-9) in the final showpiece – a second world gold for the Briton.
Rezaei had beaten India’s Prithvi Raj Chauhan in three rounds before coming out victorious against João Victor Diniz of Brazil.
The Iranian then defeated Spain’s Javier Pérez – a world silver winner in 2019 – to progress to the last-eight round, where he came out on top against China’s Xiao Chenming.
Elsewhere on the first day of the event, Hungarian Luana Marton beat Lo Chia-ling of the Chinese Taipei 2-1, 4-3 for the women’s -57kg gold, with Turkey’s Hatice Kübra İlgün and Maria Clara Pacheco of Brazil settling for bronze medals.
Iranian Tina Modanloo’s campaign finished early after a first-round defeat against Uzbekistan’s Madina Mirabzalova.