Chengdu 2025 World Games:
Iranians win karate, wushu golds on Day 3
The third day of action at the 2025 World Games saw Iranians bag a couple of gold medals in the karate and wushu events in Chengdu, China.
Sara Bahmanyar overcame some high-profile karatekas – including reigning world champion Moldir Zhangbyrbay of Kazakhstan in the final – to walk away with the ultimate prize in the women’s kumite -50kg event.
Former world bronze medalist Bahmanyar began her campaign with a 4:0 victory over back-to-back European champion Ema Sgardelli of Croatia and then came out on top against Canada’s Yamina Lahyanssa (5:4) and Italian world silver medalist Erminia Perfetto (11:3) to finish atop Pool A and progress to the semifinals.
The Iranian girl defeated two-time African gold medalist Cylia Ouikene 4:3 for a place in the final showpiece, and was then awarded the win against Zhangbyrbay by hantei (judges’ decision) after it finished 0:0.
Later on Friday, Shahin Banitalebi added a second gold to Iran’s medal haul, thanks to an impressive run in the men’s taolu.
Representing the country in the men’s nanquan/nangun event, Banitalebi scored 9.710 points to stand third in nanquan table, before a 9.756-point performance in nangun saw the Iranian beat Brunei’s Mohammad Adi Salihin, who tallied 19.456 points in total, to the combined gold, while Liu Chang-min of the Chinese Taipei settled for the bronze with 19.430 points.
Iranian girl Helia Asadian was also in action at the wushu competitions on Friday but was unlucky to finish her campaign empty-handed in a closely-contested nanquan/nandao showdown.
Asadian scored 19.343 points to finish fifth, with Malaysian Cheon Min Tan (19.479), Uzbekistan’s Darya Latisheva (19.433), and Ong Kassandra (19.386) of Singapore grabbing the medals.
The 12th edition of the World Games, featuring 34 sports and 60 disciplines that are not contested at the Olympic Games, will continue in Chengdu until next Sunday.