Iran’s Barkhordari wins World Taekwondo GS gold, punches ticket for Paris
Iranian Mehran Barkhordari sealed a second taekwondo quota for the country in next year’s Paris Olympics after grabbing the gold at the World Taekwondo Grand Slam Champions Series in Wuxi, China.
On Sunday, a thrilling final showdown of the men’s -80kg contests saw Barkhordari come out on top against Jasurbek Jaysunov in three rounds and make amends for the setback against the Uzbekistani opponent in the first series of the event earlier this year.
A World Grand Prix champion in September, Barkhordari joins Nahid Kiani in representing Iran at the Olympic Games, with a men’s and women’s slots still up for grabs for the country in the continental contests in the coming months.
A gold medalist in June’s World Championships in Baku, Kiani had already secured a women’s -57kg berth through the World Taekwondo Ranking system.
Meanwhile, Aryan Salimi failed to win a quota for Paris after a defeat against Russian Rafail Aiukaev, participating as a neutral athlete, saw him crash out of the men’s +80kg contests.
Matin Rezaei also missed out on a podium finish in Wuxi after a straight-round loss to host’s Xiao Chenming in the men’s -68kg bronze medal bout.
Abolfazl Zandi, however, finished his campaign in Wuxi with a consolation bronze in the men’s -58kg competitions.