Hangzhou Asian Games:
Second rowing silver for Iranian women; cyclist Parto-Azar wins historic bronze
The second day of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, saw Iranian women claim a second silver in the rowing contests, while Faranak Parto-Azar grabbed a historic bronze in the women’s mountain bike cycling event.
Iran is yet to win a gold in the Games but still enjoyed a successful run on Monday by collecting double silvers and four bronzes.
Rowing
The Iranian team of Fatemeh Mojallal, Nazanin Malaei, Mahsa Javer, and Zeinab Norouzi clocked 6:51.82 minutes to finish behind the Chinese team in the women’s quadruple sculls final, with Vietnam taking the bronze.
This was a second rowing silver at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre for Javer and Norouzi, who had teamed up for a runner-up spot in the double sculls event on Sunday.
Mountain cycling
Parto-Azar captured a first-ever international medal for Iranian women in the history of the sport after crossing the finish line of the cross country Olympic race in 1:42:44 hours – standing behind gold medalist Li Hongfeng (1:30:59) and her fellow Chinese Ma Caixia (1:42:44).
Taekwondo
Iranian Mahdi Hajimousaei overcame opponents from Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and the host country to reach the men’s -58kg showdown, only to settle for the silver after a 2-0 defeat against South Korea’s Jang Jun.
Mobina Ne’matzadeh, meanwhile, won a fifth medal for Iranian women in Hangzhou, a -49kg bronze courtesy of a last-four setback in straight rounds against home-favorite Guo Qing.
Table tennis
Having made history on the preceding night by defeating Japan for a place in the men’s team semifinals, the Iranian three-man side fell to a 3-0 loss to South Korea to take a precious bronze medal.
Nima Alamian was beaten 3-2 by Lim Jong-hoon before his elder brother Noshad also came short in five games against Jang Woo-jin.
Mirhossein Hodaei’s straight-game loss at the hands Park Gangh-yeon sealed the victory for South Korea.
Fencing
Iranian fencer Mohammad Rahbari was in an impressive form heading into the men’s saber semifinal against South Korea’s Oh Sang-uk – an Olympic team gold medalist in Tokyo and a world champion in 2019.
However, the Iranian finished his individual campaign in Hangzhou with a bronze following a 15-11 defeat against the high-profile South Korean – taking his personal tally in the history of the Games to three medals, including back-to-back team silvers in 2014 and 2018.