Asian Karate Championship:
Iran wins men’s kata bronze; triple kumite golds up for grabs
The second day of the 21st Asian Senior Karate Championship saw Iran’s Abolfazl Shahrjerdi, Milad Farazmehr, and Ali Zand team up to win the bronze medal in the men’s kata event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Having collected a silver medal and four bronzes in the past five editions, the Iranian trio began the campaign with a victory over the Chinese Taipei on Saturday but fell to a defeat against Japan.
Iran bounced back to beat Thailand in repechage before a win against Vietnam secured a joint bronze for the country alongside Hong Kong.
The bronze medal came as a consolation for Iranian Zand, who missed out on the podium in the individual contests following a first-round setback against Yang Kangwei of China on the preceding day in the Uzbek capital.
The women’s individual kata event was also one to forget for Iran as four-time Asian bronze medalist Fatemeh Sadeqi finished her campaign empty-handed after a defeat against Chinese Tao Yiwei in her first outing.
There was, however, more to cheer about for the country in the kumite competitions, as three Iranians reached the final showpiece of their respective weight classes on Friday and will fight for the ultimate prize today.
Atousa Golshadnejad – Asian champion in 2023 – outclassed Indian Hanee Ali (12-2) and China’s Wang Chenling (5-0) before defeating Japanese Sarara Shimada by an emphatic 8-1 scoreline in the -61kg semifinals to remain on course for a fourth continental medal.
Representing Iran in the women’s -55kg contests, Fatemeh Sa’adati beat Hong Kong’s Lin Zhizhen (9-1) and Indian Alisha Alisha (1-0) and then came out on top against Kazakhstan’s Aishabibi Sharakhan (2-1) in the semifinals.
Standing between Sa’adati – bronze medalist in 2023 – and the gold medal in today’s final is defending champion Hoang Thi My Tam of Vietnam.
In the men’s draw, Morteza Ne’mati enjoyed an impressive run in the -75kg contests, defeating Saudi opponent Sultan Alzahrani and the host’s Kuvonchbek Mukhammadiyev before coming out victorious against Japanese Yusei Sakiyama in their last-four bout.
Sara Bahmanyar won a first kumite medal for Iran on Friday, beating Chan Hsin-Yu of the Chinese Taipei 4-3 for a third-spot finish in the women’s -50kg class – a third Asian bronze in four editions for the Iranian girl.
There were disappointing kumite campaigns for other Iranians on Day 1, with Behnam Dehqanzadeh (-55kg), Ali Meskini (-60kg), Reza Besharatikia (-67kg), Mohammadreza Gilanpour (-84kg), and Mahmoud Ne’mati (+84kg) all knocked out in the men’s competitions.
Mobina Kaviani (-68kg), and Hannaneh Salehi (+68kg) also missed out on the podium in their respective categories in the women’s competitions.
Para karate glory
Meanwhile, the Iranian para karate squad claimed the team title in Tashkent, thanks to a remarkable seven medals – including double golds.
Ma’soumeh Iji and Farzad Safari won a couple of gold medals in the women’s and men’s competitions, respectively, with Negar Farahani, Leila Chalian, and Hafez Hafezikia settling for three silver medals.
Mohammad Ja’fari, and Rahim Golmohammadi added two bronzes to the medal haul, as Iran beat Kazakhstan to the top spot in the team table, with Saudi Arabia finishing third.