Taekwondo glory leads Iran’s 23-medal run in World University Games
Iran finished 11th among 120 participating countries at the FISU Summer World University Games – formerly known as the Summer Universiade – in Chengdu, China, courtesy of 23 medals – including five golds.
Of the 11 disciplines in which 83 Iranians were entered, five yielded medals, with the taekwondo contestants leading the list of the medalists for the country with 13.
Reigning world champion Nahid Kiani headlined Iran’s taekwondo campaign as she secured a second international gold in two months when she defeated Su Po-ya of the Chinese Taipei in the women’s -53kg final showdown.
Kiani was joined in the list of the female medalists by fellow Iranian Anahita Tavakkoli, who took the +73kg silver, -62kg bronze winner Narges Mirnourollahi, and Yasaman Limouchi, a winner of the individual poomsae competition before she grabbed a second bronze in the team event alongside Mobina Sharifi and Reihaneh Omrani.
In the men’s contests, Mehdi Haji Mousaei (-54kg), Alireza Hosseinpour (-58kg), and Mirhashem Hosseini (-74kg) also walked away with the ultimate prize of their respective weight classes, while Arian Salimi settled for the -87kg silver and Mehran Barkhordari took the -80kg bronze.
Hosseinpour, Hosseini, Salimi, and Barkhordari then teamed up to finish second to South Korea in the men’s team kyorugi contest.
Morteza Zendehdel was also a double individual and team bronze winner in the poomsae competitions as he was part of the Iranian trio – along with Reza Jalalifar and Ali Mousania – which shared the men’s third podium with Vietnam.
Iran’s only other gold medal in Chengdu came in the wushu event, where Mohammad Hosseini came out on top in the men’s gunshu.
Shahin Banitalebi also left the Chinese city with a men’s taolu medal, taking the nanquan bronze.
Hamidreza Sahandi (70kg) and Ali Khorshidi (80kg) added a couple of men’s sanda silvers to Iran’s medal haul after suffering final defeats against the host’s athletes, while Shoja Panahi finished third in the 60kg class.
Mohana Rahimi was the Iranian medalist in women’s sanda – a 60kg bronze.
There were further glories for Iran in shooting – a couple of bronzes in the women’s team events.
The team of Fatemeh Shekari, Laya Mohammadi, and Haniyeh Rostamian finished third in the 10m air pistol campaign, with the latter two teaming with Amitis Jafari for the 25m pistol bronze.
Elsewhere in the Games, Amirhossein Mahmoudpour clocked 7:13.01 minutes to win a rowing silver in the men’s lightweight LM1x final, with Reza Sha’bani defeating Moldova’s Dan Olaru to finish his archery campaign with a men’s recurve bronze.
China, as expected, dominated the Games on home soil with 178 medals, including a remarkable 103 golds.
Japan collected 21 golds, 29 silvers, and 43 bronzes to finish runner-up in the medal table and a neck-and-neck race saw South Korea pip Italy to the third spot.
Both countries won 17 golds and 18 silvers apiece, but the South Koreans collected 23 bronzes against Italy’s 21.