World Wushu Championships:
Iran’s Banitalebi wins taolu bronze
Iran’s Shahin Banitalebi won a first medal for the country at the World Wushu Championships in Brasília, Brazil, bagging a bronze in the men’s taolu contests.
Banitalebi scored 9.733 points to finish third in the nandao event on Thursday.
Lau Chi Lung of Hong Kong grabbed the gold with 9.763 points, while his compatriot Deng Longteng registered 9.740 points to settle for the silver.
Mostafa Hassanzadeh was the other Iran participating at the nandao event, but missed out on the podium, finishing fifth with 9.726 points.
This was a second medal-wining campaign for Banitalebi at a major event in less than a month after the Iranian had walked away with the nanquan/nangun at the Chengdu World Games in China in August.
Elsewhere in the Brazilian capital, Iranians enjoyed a perfect run across different weight classes in the sanda competitions.
Shoja Panahi defeated Uzbekistan’s Avazbek Muhammadjonov for a place in the men’s 65kg quarterfinals, while Erfan Moharrami (70kg) and Soheil Mousavi (80kg) also progressed to the last eight in their respective events.
Mahdi Moradi got off to an emphatic start in the 90kg class, knocking out Serdar Jorakulyyev of Turkmenistan in less than 40 seconds.
In the women’s draw, Seddiqeh Daryaei (65kg), Soheila Mansourian (70kg) – a bronze medalist at The World Games – and five-time world champion Shahrbanou Mansourian (75kg) advanced to the semifinals in their respective events.
The 17th edition of the World Championships will continue at the Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center until Sunday.