Iran dominates Asian para taekwondo meet
Sports Desk
A remarkable 12 medals, half of which were golds, saw Iran dominate the Asian Para Open Taekwondo Championships, claiming both team titles in Beirut.
Maryam Abdollahpour (-47kg), Mahdiyeh Hosseini (-52kg), Roza Ebrahimi (-57kg), and Mahtab Nabavi (-57kg K41) walked away with the ultimate prize of their respective weight classes, with Leila Mirzaei (+65kg) and Romina Chamsouraki (-65kg) bagging a couple of silvers, as Iran beat Uzbekistan to the women’s crown.
Abdollahpour, who defeated reigning Paralympic champion Leonor Espinoza in the final, was named the female MVP of the competitions, and Atefeh Keshavarz captured the best female coach award.
In the men’s event, Saeed Sadeqian (-63kg) and Hamed Haqshenas (+80kg) headlined Iran’s title-winning run with two gold medals, while Mohammad-Taha Hassanpour (-58kg), Alireza Bakht (-80kg), and Mehdi Pour-Rahnama (-70kg) were the country’s silver winners.
Amirmohammad Haqshenas finished his campaign with a -70kg bronze to take the Iranian men’s medal count to six.
Uzbekistan followed Iran in the men’s table with double golds and silvers apiece, plus four bronzes, with the Chinese Taipei finishing third, thanks to single gold.
Men’s head coach Payam Khanlarkhani was also awarded with the best coach prize.