World Taekwondo Junior Championships:
Ashrafi wins third gold for Iran
The second day of the World Taekwondo Junior Championships saw Amirmohammad Ashrafi claim a third gold medal for Iran in Chuncheon, South Korea.
Ashrafi came out on top against Australian Aiden Stilley in straight rounds to walk away with the ultimate prize in the men’s +78kg contests.
The Iranian used his height and leg length to maximum effect in both rounds, winning the first 11-2 and the second by technical superiority as his 15-point lead secured a richly-deserved triumph for him.
The final victory capped off a dominant run in Chuncheon for the Iranian, who did not concede a single round throughout his campaign, enjoying knockout victories over Canadian Ronan Sinclair and Italian last-four opponent Matteo De Angelis – courtesy of a powerful spinning head kick just over 30 seconds into the contest.
Ashrafi’s glory came after Iranian girls Parnian Nouri and Aynaz Nasiri had won a couple of golds on the preceding night.
Nouri overcame China’s Yinuo Xu in back-to-back rounds (4-1, 15-8) in an intriguing -52kg final, while Nasiri defeated Kazakhstan’s Nuray Kaznabek 4-0 and 5-4 in the -59kg showdown.
Mahdi Rahmati and Saina Alipour were the other Iranians in action on Wednesday but finished their campaign empty-handed.
Rahmati fell to a first-round exit in the men’s -45kg event after a loss to Wu Yejie of China.
Representing the country in the women’s -46kg class, Alipour defeated opponents from Canada, Portugal, and Turkey, before suffering a last-eight loss to Violeta Diaz Arribas of Spain.