Karate1 Youth League:
Jafarnejad grabs gold as Iran collects three junior medals
Fatemeh Jafarnejad spearheaded Iran’s medal hunt on Day 2 of the Karate 1 Youth League series opener in Fujairah, UAE, by winning a kumite gold in the women’s junior contests on Friday.
The Iranian girl came out on top against Russian Alina Arapova – participating as a neutral athlete – to walk away with the ultimate prize of the -48kg weight class.
In the men’s junior competitions, Mohammad-Hossein Farahani settled for a silver medal after a loss to Armenian Suren Kosakyan in the 76kg final, while Abolfazl Lori Goueini finished his -61kg campaign with a joint bronze alongside Dutch karateka Devon Lepez.
Friday’s results medals came after the Iranians had nine kumite under-21 medals – including triple golds – on the preceding night in Fujairah.
Abolfazl Hamdamjou (men’s -61kg), Fatemeh Yousefi (women’s -55kg), Hannaneh Salehi (women’s +68kg) were the Iranian gold medalists, with Paria Alizadeh taking the silver medal in the women’s -61kg event.
Mohammad Shirsefat, Sepehr Arabi (men’s -61kg), Mehrnegar Ahmadi (women’s -61kg), Mohammad-Javad Safari and Siavash Dehqani (men’s -75kg) added five bronzes to Iran’s medal haul.
The inaugural Karate 1 Youth League will continue with the cadet competitions today, with the event returning with the second series in the Spanish city of Guadalajara on April 3.