Hangzhou Asian Games:
Kiani grabs wushu silver; triple taekwondo bronzes for Iran
The fourth day of the 19th Asian Games saw Iranian girl Zahra Kiani bag a talou silver in the wushu contests, while there were three more taekwondo bronzes for the country in Hangzhou, China.
Wushu
A two-time world bronze medalist, Kiani grabbed a second successive silver at the Asian Games after a 19.436 score in the women’s jianshu & qiangshu event.
China’s Lai Xiaoxiao tallied 19.600 for the gold medal, with Vietnamese Dương Thuy Vi taking the bronze with 19.426 points.
Taekwondo
Three Iranians saw their campaigns come to a disappointing finish in the semifinals, as the country’s wait for a taekwondo gold dragged on for another day.
Melika Mirhosseini overcame opponents from Nepal and Jordan in straight rounds, only to suffer a 2-1 defeat against Feruza Sadikova of Uzbekistan, sharing the third podium of the women’s -67kg class with Vietnam’s Bac Thi Khiem, who was beaten by the host’s Song Jie in the other semifinal.
The Chinese girl beat Sadikova in the final.
In the men’s -68kg contests, Matin Rezaei, a world bronze winner in May, suffered a 2-1 defeat against Jordan’s Zaid Abdul Kareem.
In the final showdown, however, the Jordanian came short against Uzbekistan’s Ulugbek Rashitov, who had avenged his world last-four loss to South Korean Jin Ho-jun earlier in the semifinals.
Mehran Barkhordari claimed a third bronze for Iran on Wednesday after a 2-1 setback against South Korea’s Park Woo-hyeok – a world champion last year – who went on to beat Saleh Elsharabaty of Jordan for the ultimate prize of the men’s -80kg category.
Iran has now collected seven taekwondo medals in the Asian Games.
Alireza Hosseinpour (men’s -63kg) and Mahdi Hajimousaei (men’s -58kg) settled for a couple of silvers in their respective weight classes, while Mobina Ne’matzadeh took a -49kg bronze in the women’s competitions.
Marjan Salahshouri had opened the account for Iran, finishing third in the women’s poomsae event.
Football
Iran’s under-23 side progressed into last eight thanks to a 2-0 victory over Thailand.
Amir-Arsalan Motahari – one of three senior players in the squad – got Iran off the mark 13 minutes into the game when a Thai keeper’s long ball was intercepted by the Esteghlal striker and found the back of the net.
Persepolis midfielder Yassin Salmani sealed the win from the spot with 10 minutes left on the clock after Mahdi Mamizadeh was brought down in the box by the goalkeeper.
Handball
A nervy 23-23 draw against Saudi Arabia was enough for Iran to advance into the main round.
Mojtaba Heidarpour scored five, with Mohammad-Mahdi Behnamnia and Hossein Jahani bagging four apiece, as Veselin Vujovic’s men held out a late Saudi surge to finish above the opponent in Group D of the preliminary round – runner-up to Japan.
Elsewhere in the Games, the Iranian men’s 3x3 basketball side defeated Japan 22-13 in Pool B – a second victory for the country after a 22-6 triumph over Maldives on the preceding night.