Asian Junior Taekwondo Championships:
Iranians collect six medals on Day 1
Iranian boys and girls bagged six medals, including double women’s golds, on the first day of junior contests at the Asian Junior, Cadet & Para Taekwondo Championships in Kuching, Malaysia.
Elina Alipour defeated opponents from Lebanon, India, and Uzbekistan before coming out on top in straight rounds against South Korean Kim Borim to walk away with the ultimate prize of the women’s +68kg weight class.
Saina Khan-Ali rounded off an emphatic run in the women’s -59kg class by defeating Kazakhstan’s Togzhan Kaznabek 2-0 in the final showpiece.
There were further medals for the Iranian girls on the first day of action in Kuching as Negar Mozaffari and Rozhan Goudarzi finished their campaigns with a silver and a bronze, respectively.
Mozaffari overcame contestants from Lebanon, Uzbekistan, and Thailand for a place in the -42kg final, only to suffer a 2-0 loss to Aiym Serikbayeva of Kazakhstan and finish on the second podium.
Having beaten Uzbek and Indian practitioners, Goudarzi had to settle for a joint-third finish in the -52kg event following a last-four loss to Kim Siwoo of South Korea.
Mohammad-Mahdi Sa’adati and Iliya Shahbazi, meanwhile, added a couple of silver medals to Iran’s medal haul in the men’s competitions.
Representing the country in the -63kg division, Sa’adati beat opponents from Mongolia, the Chinese Taipei, and the Philippines but fell short in straight rounds against Thanapoom Fuangnoi in the final.
Shahbazi settled for a runner-up finish behind South Korean Eom Simok following a 2-1 defeat in the +78kg showdown.
Pouya Ojaqlou (men’s -45kg), Taha Javadi (men’s -48kg), Radin Zeinali (men’s -73kg), and Baran Ne’mati (women’s -63kg) were the other Iranians in action on Day 1, finishing empty-handed in their respective classes.