Asian Cadet Junior & U21 Karate Championship:
Iranians bag 18 medals on Day 2
Iranians collected 12 medals on the second day of the 21st Asian Cadet Junior & U21 Karate Championship to take the country’s medal haul to 18 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
On Tuesday, the Iranian girls walked away with three precious golds in the junior kumite contests, with Yousef Nikravesh settling for the +76kg silver in the boys’ event after a final loss to Hyoma Shimomura of Japan.
Fatemeh Ja’farnejad came out on top against Thailand’s Supichaya Teekwang for the ultimate prize of the -48kg weight class, while Hana Hosseinpour defeated Indonesian Almahyra Tiara Sandi to finish atop the -66kg contests.
Zahra Rahimpour rounded off a glittering day for Iran thanks to a 6-2 victory over Thai opponent Chanankan Khieokham in the +66kg final.
Meanwhile, Matin Zare’, representing the country in the male U21 event, and the Iranian female cadet and junior trio of Mobina Haddadzadeh, Sarina Dorri, and Sanza Mehri-Mahani took the kata silvers in their respective categories.
Ghazal Fat’hi had won a first gold medal of Iran on the first day of the competitions, courtesy of a triumph over Japanese Miki Ito in the female cadet -47kg final.
Ailin Bahari was also a silver medalist in Almaty, finishing second to Japan’s Azusa Takata in the junior girls’ kata final.
More than 440 karatekas from 26 countries took part in the three-day event.