World Taekwondo Championships:
Iran grabs 11 medals, beats South Korea to team titles
A remarkable haul of 11 medals, including seven golds, saw Iran steal the show at the World Taekwondo Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea, beating the host to the men’s and women’s team titles.
Iranian boys collected three golds, one silver, and double bronze medals to finish above South Korea and Uzbekistan.
This was a third men’s title for Iran, which is the only country other South Korea to lift the team trophy over 14 editions of the competition.
Meanwhile, four gold medals and a silver helped Iranian girls claim the title, with South Korea and Croatia in the following spots.
This was only a second women’s crown for the country.
Iran’s sensational campaign began with a couple of girls’ golds on the first day of the competitions, when Parnian Nouri defeated China’s Yinuo Xu in an intriguing -52kg final, while Aynaz Nasiri came out on top against Kazakhstan’s Nuray Kaznabek in the -59kg showdown.
Ghazal Houshmand bagged a third gold medal for Iranian girls on the penultimate day of the event, thanks to a straight-round triumph over Yang Xiruo of China in the -42kg final. Hana Zarrinkamar also finished on a high note, winning the -68kg final against the host’s Lim Yerim.
Saghar Moradi, meanwhile, made it to the final showpiece in the -63kg weight class, only to settle for a silver medal after a loss to Tunisian girl Masghouni Wafa.
In the men’s draw, Amirmohammad Ashrafi opened the gold account for Iran at the expense of Australian Aiden Stilley in the +78kg final.
Sina Mohtarami doubled Iranian boys’ gold count with a three-round win against Nurali Makhmut of Kazakhstan in a thrilling -55kg final, before Mahdi Razmian walked away with the ultimate prize in the -48kg class, courtesy of a victory over Spain’s Agenjo Trigos.
Elsewhere, Ali-Akbar Ebrahimi suffered a final defeat against South Korea’s Park Jae-won to take the silver in the -73kg contests.
Amin Ahmadvand (-78kg) and Amirmohammad Nasirahmadi (-51kg) finished their campaigns with a couple of bronze medals.
The juniors’ success came less than two months after Arian Salimi notched up a gold, with Mehran Barkhordari and Nahid Kiani collecting double silvers, while Mobina Ne’matzadeh won a bronze as Iranians made a clean sweep of four medals at the Paris Olympics.