Iranian teams head to Tashkent for Asian Karate Championship
The Iranian men’s and women’s teams left the country for Tashkent ahead of the 21st Asian Senior Karate Championship – kicking off Friday in the Uzbek capital.
Former world bronze medalist Sara Bahmanyar (-50kg) will be joined by Fatemeh Sa’adati (-55kg), 2023 Asian champion Atousa Golshadnejad (-61kg), Mobina Kaviani (-68kg), and Hannaneh Salehi (+68kg) in representing Iran in the women’s kumite contests.
The men’s competitions will see Behnam Dehqanzadeh (-55kg), Ali Meskini (-60kg), Reza Besharati (-67kg), Morteza Ne’mati (-75kg), Mohammadreza Gilanpour (-84kg), and Mahmoud Ne’mati (+84kg) chase the Asian glory.
Four-time Asian bronze medalist Fatemeh Sadeqi will be among the favorites in the women’s individual kata event, having walked away with ultimate prize in January’s Karate 1-Series A event in Tbilisi, while the trio of Sepideh Amini, Melika Ezzati, and Zeinab Hosseini will be looking to improve on their Asian bronze last year, when taking part in the team event.
Ali Zand will compete in the men’s individual kata competitions and will team up with Abolfazl Shahrjerdi and Milad Farazmehr in the team event.
The trio will again fancy their chances for a podium finish in Tashkent, having collected double silver and bronze medals apiece at the Asian event since 2017.