Asian Taekwondo Championships:
Salimi captures decisive gold as Iran beats South Korea to men’s crown
A remarkable seven medals, including triple golds, saw Iran win the men’s title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Da Nang, Vietnam.
South Korea finished on the second podium thanks to double golds and silvers apiece, as well as a bronze with Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia in the following spots.
There were further achievements for the Iranians as Majid Aflaki was named the best coach of the tournament, with young prodigy Mahdi Hajimousaei claiming the best male athlete prize after winning the -58kg gold.
Aflaki’s men and South Korea went toe-to-toe in the team title race before Arian Salimi’s straight-round victory over Park Woo-hyeok in a thrilling +87kg final secured a fifth continental crown for Iran, ending the country’s eight-year drought in the competitions.
This was a third international medal for the Iranian over the past 12 months – following last year’s world bronze in Baku and the silver at the Asian Games – and a morale-boosting triumph ahead of the Paris Olympics in July.
Earlier on Saturday, Ali Khoshravesh, who was only named in the squad after Iranian captain Mirhashem Hosseini was injured days before the tournament, had an impressive run towards the men’s -80kg final but had to settle for a runner-up finish after a defeat against Jasurbek Jaysunov of Uzbekistan.
Yalda Valinejad was the Iranian girl in action on Saturday but was unfortunate to see her campaign come to a finish after a first-round loss to South Korea’s Kwak Min-ju.
Hajimousaei and Mohammad-Hossein Yazdani had grabbed a couple of gold medals for Iran on Day 2 of the kyorugi competitions.
Hajimousaei, 19, came out on top against fellow-Iranian Abolfazl Zandi in the semifinals before defeating South Korean Park Tae-joon 2-1 for the ultimate prize – a second continental medal for the Iranian following his silver-winning campaign in the Asian Games.
Zandi shared the third podium of the weight class with two-time world champion Bae Jun-seo of South Korea.
A second all-Iranian encounter on Friday saw Yazdani beat Mehran Barkhordari – a 2022 world bronze medalist – in the men’s -87kg final.
Both athletes enjoyed an emphatic campaign en route to the final showdown, with Yazdani overcoming former world champion Kang Sang-hyun of South Korean in the quarterfinals, while Barkhordari, who will be part of the -80kg class at the Paris Olympics, defeated his high-profile Uzbekistani opponent Nikita Rafalovich – the defending champion and a winner of three world medals – 2-1 in a last-eight clash.
Melika Mirhosseini was the only Iranian female medalist on Friday, taking the silver in the -73kg class.
Mirhosseini beat opponents from the host country and Uzbekistan but fell short against South Korea’s Myeong Mi-na in the final.
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Mobina Ne’matzadeh was the second Iranian Olympian girl to finish the tournament empty-handed after reigning world champion Nahid Kiani had lost her first bout in the -53kg contests on the preceding night.
Ne’matzadeh, Iran’s -49kg representative in Paris, opened her campaign with a win against Tachiana Mangin of the Philippines but fell to a second-round setback against Vietnam’s Thi Kim Tuyen Truong.
Elham Haqiqi also suffered a second-round blow in Da Nang as she was beaten by back-to-back world bronze medalist Feruza Sadikova of Uzbekistan in the women’s -62kg contests, while Amir-Sina Bakhtiari was knocked out of the men’s -74kg event after a loss to Najmiddin Kosimkhojiev – also from Uzbekistan.
Saeideh Nasri (women’s -46kg) and Matin Rezaei (men’s -63kg) had won double bronze medals for the country on the first day of the kyorugi competitions.
The 26th edition of the Asian Championships finishes with the para taekwondo event today.