Kiani bags fourth taekwondo gold for Iran at World University Games
Nahid Kiani grabbed a fourth taekwondo gold for Iran at the FISU Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China.
The reigning Asian champion came out on top in two rounds against Su Po-ya of the Chinese Taipei to walk away with the ultimate prize of the women’s -53kg weight class on Thursday.
This was a fifth women’s taekwondo medal for the country in the Games after Narges Mirnourollahi had settled for the joint bronze of the -62kg contests, while Anahita Tavakkoli took the +73kg silver.
Yasaman Limouchi finished her campaign in the individual poomsae contests with a joint bronze and was also part of the Iranian trio – alongside Reyhaneh Omrani and Mobina Sharifi – that shared the third podium with Vietnam in the team event.
Elsewhere on Thursday, Arian Salimi made it to the final showdown of the men’s -87kg competitions, only to suffer a 2-1 defeat against the host’s Meng Mingkuan and take the silver.
Salimi’s silver rounded off an impressive campaign in the men’s taekwondo for the Iranians, who also collected three gold and bronze medals apiece.
Mehdi Haji Mousaei defeated Uzbekistan’s Omonjon Otajonov for the coveted gold of the -54kg class, while a second final featuring Iranian and Uzbekistani contestants saw Alireza Hosseinpour come out victorious against Amirbek Turaev.
A world silver medalist in 2017, Mirhashem Hosseini also left the Games with a gold thanks to a victory over home-favorite Cui Yang in the -74kg final.
Mehran Barkhordari claimed the joint -80kg bronze, while in the men’s poomsae events, Morteza Zendehdel finished third to South Korean Wanjin Kang and Mingda Hu of China.
Znedehdel then went on to team up with Reza Jalalifar and Ali Mousania for another poomsae bronze in the Games.