World Taekwondo Championships:
Injured Hajimousaei settles for silver after unfinished final
Iran’s Mahdi Hajimousaei had to settle for silver at the World Taekwondo Championships in Wuxi, China, after an injury forced him to withdraw midway through the men’s -63kg final against Tunisia’s Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi on Saturday.
The Iranian was leading 1-0 with just 30 seconds remaining in the first period when a punch to the neck from the Tunisian sent him to the canvas. He was unable to recover and continue the bout.
Despite the final disappointment, 20-year-old Hajimousaei enjoyed an impressive campaign in Wuxi, overcoming third-seed Norwegian Kristian Borgen in straight rounds in the quarterfinals before producing a sublime performance to beat South Korea’s Jun Jang – a former world champion and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist – for a place in the final.
Jendoubi, meanwhile, added the ultimate prize to his 2022 world bronze, as well as his Olympic silver and bronze medals.
Iran, which saw all four of its representatives medal at last year’s Paris Olympics, has endured a dire campaign in Wuxi, with six of the country’s seven contestants so far coming away empty-handed in their respective divisions.
On Sunday, Mohammad-Hossein Yazdani impressed with a second-round victory over former world champion Park Woo-hyeok of South Korea in the men’s -87kg but fell to a last-eight defeat in three rounds against Italy’s Olympic bronze medalist Simone Alessio.
Mahdi Razmian’s campaign in the men’s -54kg ended in the second round after a defeat against Jordan’s Jaafar Al-Daoud, while Melika Mirhosseini also crashed out in the second round, losing to China’s Zhou Zeqi in the women’s -73kg category.
The first day of the competition had seen Olympic Champion Arian Salimi and Nahid Kiani – a silver winner in Paris – suffer last-16 setbacks in the men’s +87kg and women’s -57kg classes respectively.
Mahla Momenzadeh, meanwhile, failed to add to her 2019 world silver, falling to Mah Teninba Fofana of France in the second round in the women’s -49kg on Saturday.