Iranians bag five medals at World Taekwondo GP
Iranians claimed five medals – including three silvers – at the Roma 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Prix.
Representing the country in the men’s -80kg contests, Mehran Barkhordari came out on top against Norwegian Richard Andre Ordemann – a gold medalist at the event in 2018 – in three rounds for a place in the final showdown but a 2-1 defeat against Saleh Elsharabaty of Jordan saw the Iranian finish with a silver in the first event at this year’s World Grand Prix.
Mobina Nematzadeh, 17, finished her campaign with a women’s -49kg bronze following a 2-0 loss to Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand in the semifinals.
The young Iranian shared the third podium with China’s Qing Guo, while Wongpattanakit went on to beat Spain’s Adriana Cerezo Iglesias for a 10th Grand Prix gold.
An all-Iranian quarterfinal showdown had seen Nematzadeh beat Ghazal Soltani, thanks to a 6-0 win in the deciding round.
The two medals came after recently-crowned world champion Nahid Kiani had grabbed the women’s -57kg silver on the preceding night.
The Iranian beat South Korean Kim Yu-jin in the semifinals but came short against Great Britain’s Jade Jones in straight rounds (8-6, 5-2) in the final showpiece.
In the men’s -58kg contests, Mehdi Hajimousaei, 18, booked a place in the final after a walkover victory against his compatriot Abolfazl Zandi – who was forced out with an injury in the first round.
The young Iranian, however, had to settle for a silver on his debut at the event after a defeat against Spaniard Adrian Vicente Yunta in a thrilling three-round final, while Zandi took the joint bronze alongside South Korean Jun Jang.
More than 250 contestants from 53 countries took part at the three-day tournament – serving as a qualification event for next year’s Paris Olympics – in the Italian capital.
Paris, the Chinese city of Taiyuan, and Manchester will host the next editions of the 2023 Grand Prix.