Iranians bag four medals at Fujairah Open
The first day of the Fujairah Open taekwondo competitions in the United Arab Emirates saw Iran’s five-man squad collect four medals, including double golds.
Iranians dominated the men’s -58kg contests in the Sheikh Zayed Sport City as Mahdi Hajmousaei came out on top against Abolfazl Zandi – in a repeat of last September’s all-Iranian Grand Prix final in Paris – to walk away with the ultimate prize.
Alireza Hosseinpour, a silver medalist in last October’s Asian Games, had to settle for a consolation bronze in the weight class after a last-four defeat against Zandi – sharing the third podium with Afghanistan’s Mohsen Rezaei.
Meanwhile, Arian Salimi, also a silver winner in Hangzhou, came out victorious against Azerbaijan’s Iranian-born Milad Beigi – a two-time world champion and an Olympic bronze medalist in 2016 – in the +87kg final to take the country’s gold count to two.
Mir-Hashem Hosseini was the other Iranian in the heavyweight class but left Fujairah empty-handed following a second-round defeat against Roslan Zapparov of Kazakhstan.
More than 450 athletes have been taking part at the 11th edition of the four-day Fujairah Open.