Karate World Cup – National Team Championships:
Iran settles for runner-up finish in men’s kumite
The Iranian kumite team had to settle for the men’s silver medal at the WKF Karate World Cup following a final defeat against Egypt in Pamplona, Spain.
Having beaten Japan in the semifinals, Shahram Heravi’s men suffered a comprehensive 3-0 loss in Sunday’s showdown as the African champions improved on their world silver in Budapest last year.
The setback will still go down as decent result for the Iranians, who were making their first appearance in the final showpiece in six years.
Reigning world 84kg champion Youssef Badawy gave Egyptians an early momentum with a 7-5 victory over Mahdi A’ashouri, before Iranian Mahdi Khodabakhshi and Ali Elsawy fought to a scoreless stalemate.
Saleh Abazari fell to a 5-0 defeat against Abdalla Abdelaziz – also a 2023 world gold medalist – and Ahmed Elmasry rounded off the victory with a 6-1 triumph over Mahmoud Ne’mati.
Bahman Asgari, Mahdi Ganjzadeh, Morteza Ne’mati, and Mahdi Shahgol were the other members of the Iranian kumite squad.
Heravi, meanwhile, went on to step down from his role after the final loss, bringing the curtain down on an illustrious career as the Iranian head coach, which saw him steer the country to overwhelming success over the past decade – including three world team crowns, and five Asian team titles, as well as Sajjad Ganjzadeh’s historic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Iranian team began its campaign in Pamplona with a 4-0 beating of North Macedonia and then came out victorious against Croatia (4-1), Italy (3-1), and Australia (3-2) to finish atop the Pool 1 standings and head into quarterfinals.
Iran secured a dominant 3-0 win against Slovakia in the last-eight round, before coming out on top against the Japanese with the same scoreline, making amends for the semifinal loss to the karate powerhouse in September’s Asian Championships.
Japan still managed to ensure a podium finish in all four categories of the event with a 3-1 win against Italy in the bronze-medal contest.
Elsewhere in the competitions, Japan maintained its stronghold on female team kata, claiming a 15th world title – and fifth in a row – thanks to a final victory (46.60-43.20) over Portugal.
Represented by Mahsa Afsaneh, Maria Hosseinnia, Parisa Rahmani, Kowsar Salehi, the Iranian team beat Switzerland, Colombia, and the Czech Republic, while losing to Spain, to finish second to the host in the pool table, but was unfortunate to leave Pamplona empty-handed after a last-eight setback against Italy.
The Iranian men’s kata squad, comprising Sahand Eslami, Yahya Pishezari, Mahdi Shahin, and Mohammad Sadra Shidzi, also stood second in the group phase – courtesy of wins against South Africa, Montenegro, and Poland, and a loss to Japan – but their knockout journey was short-lived following a quarterfinal defeat against the Italians.
Japan overcame Turkey for the men’s kata title.
A third gold medal for the Japanese came in the women’s kumite event, thanks to a final victory over the United States.