World Taekwondo Junior Championships:
Double delight for Iran coach in winning the title in sport’s hub
Head coach Fatemeh Safarpour, who led Iran to the women’s crown at the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea, said she felt an even greater sense of triumph in winning the title in a country considered the hub of the sport.
Ghazal Houshmand, Parnian Nouri, Aynaz Nasiri, and Hana Zarrinkamar all walked away with the ultimate prize of their respective weight classes, with Saghar settling for a silver, as Iran finished atop the medals table, followed by the host, which bagged a single gold and three silver medals.
This meant that South Korea missed out on the girls’ trophy for only a third time across the 14 editions of world junior event.
Iran celebrated a first title in Burnaby, Canada, in 2016 before Russian girls’ triumph two years later in Hammamet, Tunisia.
“There was a unique joy of winning this title in a country where taekwondo is a traditional sport,” Safarpour told Mehr News Agency.
“With all the global contenders in the mix, the competition was held at such a high level. It’s always a real test when South Korea hosts a taekwondo event, but the Iranian girls and all of my colleagues in the coaching staff, as well as the federation, deserve credit for working tirelessly to make this success happen,” added the Iranian, who was named the Best Women Team Coach on the final day of the event.
“The gold medals of the 10 weight classes were won by seven countries. Iran collected four of them and South Korea, the Chinese Taipei, Tunisia, Croatia, Morocco, and the Philippines claimed one apiece, which shows many countries have invested on the sport,” said Safarpour, whose team had finished runner-up to South Korea in Sofia two years ago.
“There was a high number of contestants in all weight classes, and each participant had to win at least six bouts to win a gold medal, which made it even a more precious achievement for the Iranian girls. They surely deserved this title.”