World Taekwondo Junior Championships:
Iranian girls grab double golds on Day 1
Iran got off to a flying start at the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea, as Parnian Nouri and Aynaz Nasiri bagged a couple of gold medals in the girls’ competitions.
Nouri overcame China’s Yinuo Xu in an intriguing -52kg final to become the first junior world champion crowned in Chuncheon.
It took until just over 10 seconds remaining of the first round for Nouri to find the breakthrough with a push kick which yielded double two-pointers, as she went on to close it out 4-1.
The Iranian delivered an impressive display throughout the second round, aided by a head kick awarded after a video replay request. Xu put up a strong fight despite falling 11-1 behind, but it was Nouri who prevailed 15-8 to seal a straight-round victory.
Nouri only dropped one round on her way to the final, that coming against Thailand’s Panbua Moramat in the round of 16.
Nasiri doubled the country’s gold haul thanks to a straight-round triumph over Kazakhstan’s Nuray Kaznabek in the -59kg showdown.
The two delivered a gripping match until the end of both rounds, but it was the Iranian who emerged victorious in the end. Nasiri enjoyed a 17cm height advantage over her opponent, but for much of the first round there was only a gam-jeom from Kaznabek which separated the pair. Nasiri finished strongly with a push kick to the body and resulting gam-jeom for Kaznabek which gave her a 4-0 win.
The Iranian girl looked to have control of the second round as she led 3-0, before a stunning head kick by Kaznabek brought her level. However, it was to be Nasiri’s day, as she took the second round 5-4 to secure a perfect outcome for the country on the first day of the competition.
It was a remarkable journey to victory for Nasiri, who had to come from behind twice to win her quarterfinal against Serbia’s Vanja Rankov and the last-four encounter against Croatian Marija Uglešić.