Iran aiming high in Asian Karate Championships
Iranian male and female karatekas left the country for China on Monday ahead of the 20th AKF Senior Championships – starting Thursday in Hangzhou.
Iran is eager to improve on last year’s result in Malacca, Malaysia, where a haul of 12 medals – including three golds – saw the country finish behind Kazakhstan and Japan, which also bagged triple golds apiece.
Behnam Dehqanzadeh will head into the men’s -55kg contests as the defending champion, while Pouria Aghdasi will be looking to add to his two Asian bronzes in the -60kg class.
A four-time world team and individual champion, Bahman Askari is keen to grab a fifth Asian gold and make up for last year’s setback in the -75kg final.
Mahdi Khodabakhshi will be the Iranian representative in the -84kg class, with Saleh Abazari going after a second +84kg gold after his 2018 triumph.
Askari, Khodabakhshi, and Abazari will be joined by Mahmoud Ne’mati, Morteza Ne’mati, Mahdi Ashouri, Alireza Heidari, and Mahdi Ganjzadeh in the men’s kumite team event.
Ali Zand will be the Iranian in the men’s individual kata contests and will team up with Abolfazl Shahrjerdi and Milad Farazmehr for the team competition.
In the women’s draw, Atousa Golshadnejad will headline the Iranian squad as the reigning Asian -61kg champion.
Sara Bahmanyar will chase a more colorful medal in the -50kg competitions, having settled for back-to-back bronzes in the previous two editions.
Two-time gold medalist Taravat Khaksar will be after a fifth Asian medal on his return to the national team when participating in the -55kg bouts.
Mobina Heidari – silver medalist in 2021 – and Leila Borj-Ali, who were part of the Iranian silver-winning kumite team in Malacca, will take part in the -68kg and +68kg weight classes respectively.
Golshadnejad and Heidari will be part of the Iranian kumite team – also featuring Shima Al-e Sa’di, Mobina Kaviani, and Fatemeh Sa’adati.
A bronze winner last year, Fatemeh Sadeghi will again have a shot at glory in individual kata, with Sepideh Amini, Melika Ezzati, and Zeinab Hosseini eyeing success in the team event.
Seyyed Shahram Heravi will be the head coach of the Iranian male karatekas, with Leila Bahrami in charge of the women’s squad in this year’s Asian Championships, which will serve as a crucial part of qualification for November’s Karate World Cup in Pamplona, Spain.