Ne’matzadeh claims statement win against Kiani in battle of Olympians
Mobina Ne’matzadeh walked away with a statement victory over Nahid Kiani in a highly-anticipated bout, featuring the two Iranian female medalists at the Paris Olympics, in the country’s Taekwondo Premier League.
All eyes were on the -57kg final in Tehran’s Taekwondo House on Friday, where Iranian Holding’s Ne’matzadeh, who had her Olympic coach Mahrouz Saei in her corner, came out on top against Pars Jonoubi’s Kiani – instructed by Iranian women’s head coach Minoo Maddah – in back-to-back rounds for the ultimate prize.
A world junior champion in 2022, teenage prodigy Ne’matzadeh became only the second Iranian girl to win a medal in the Olympic history – following Kimia Alizadeh’s taekwondo bronze in Rio 2016 – when she defeated Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Abutaleb in the third-place bout of the -49kg event in August.
The 19-year-old decided to move up to a higher weight class after the Games in the French capital and marked the new chapter of her career in style with Friday’s victory.
Reigning world champion Kiani etched her name into history books when she became the first Iranian female athlete to make it to a final showpiece in the Olympics, courtesy of a last-four victory over Laetitia Aoun of Lebanon in the -57kg contests, though ultimately settled for a silver medal after a loss to South Korean Kim Yu-jin in the final.
With both Iranians eager for further Olympic glory in four years’ time, Friday’s bout may well have been only the first episode of their domestic rivalry leading up to the sporting extravaganza in Los Angeles.