Hangzhou Asian Games:
Ganjzadeh claims karate gold; Iranian women grab kabaddi bronze
The penultimate day of the 19th Asian Games saw Iranian karateka Sajjad Ganjzadeh win a ninth gold for the country in Hangzhou, China. Meanwhile, the Iranian women’s quest for a second successive kabaddi gold in the Games came to an end in the semifinals as they settled for a joint bronze alongside Nepal after a 35-24 defeat against the Chinese Taipei. Iran’s men’s team, however, remains on course to win back-to-back golds of the event, thanks to a last-four 47-24 victory over the Chinese Taipei, and will take on India in today’s showdown.
Karate kudos
Tokyo Olympic champion Ganjzadeh came out on top against opponents from Laos, Pakistan, and Thailand for a place in the men’s kumite +84kg final against Kyrgyzstan’s Adilet Shadykanov, who claimed a shock semifinal win against reigning world champion Tareg Ali Hamedi of Saudi Arabia.
A nail-biting showpiece saw Ganjzadeh come out victorious with a 4-2 scoreline to capture a second gold in a row at the Asian Games – a massive improvement for the Iranian on July’s Asian Championships, where he took the bronze.
In the women’s draw, Atousa Golshadnejad was unlucky to finish her campaign empty-handed after a 1-0 loss to Kazakhstan’s Assel Kanay in the third-place bout of the -61kg class.
Rahman outclassed
Nicknamed ‘Ruthless Rahman’, Amouzad – a world champion last year and a two-time Asian gold medalist – stepped onto the mat on Friday on the back of below-par run in September’s World Championships in Belgrade, where he only managed to secure a berth for next year’s Paris Olympics by finishing fifth in the 65kg weight class.
The young Iranian beat wrestlers from Uzbekistan, Japan, and the host country and then showed no mercy against five-time world and Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia in the semifinals, easing past the high-profile Indian by a 8-1 triumph.
However, Amouzad was a shadow of himself in the gold-medal contest against Mongolia’s Tulga Tumur-Ochir – whom the Iranian beat for the Asian gold in April – and was stunned inside 15 seconds after the break to suffer a 11-1 technical fall defeat.
Ebrahim Khari also endured a disappointing run in the 57kg class, concluded by a last-eight setback against Indian Aman Sehrawat.