World Taekwondo Championships:
Iran finishes second in men’s event but women fall short
Iran had a mixed campaign at the World Taekwondo Championships in Wuxi, China, securing its best run in the men’s competition in a decade, while all seven Iranian girls finished without a medal.
Amirsina Bakhtiari settled for a joint third-place finish in the -74kg weight class on Thursday to help the Iranian men’s squad stand runner-up to South Korea in team table with one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal.
While the result marked the best for Iran since the 2015 title-winning campaign, it ended the country’s eight-year team podium drought at the sport’s flagship international tournament.
Former world junior champion Bakhtiari began the final day with a victory over Thailand’s Krittayot Phrompatju and went on to defeat former world bronze medalist Javad Aghayev of Azerbaijan and Italian Angelo Mangione – world champion in 2022 – to reach the quarterfinals.
Bakhtiari then came out victorious in straight rounds against Kazakhstan’s Yergesh Bekassyl before suffering a last-four setback against Brazilian Edival Pontes – an Olympic bronze medalist last year – to share the third podium with Russian Magomed Abdusalamov, who competed as a neutral athlete.
Bakhtiari’s bronze came after Abolfazl Zandi had ended Iran’s decade-long wait for a gold at the world showpiece by capturing the ultimate prize in the men’s -58kg category on the preceding night.
The Iranian sensation produced an emphatic run in Wuxi, not conceding a single round across five bouts en route to the final before defeating 2023 silver medalist Georgii Gurtsiev of Belarus – also a neutral contestant – in straight rounds (7-3, 12-8) to add the senior glory to his 2022 world junior gold.
Mahdi Hajimousaei, meanwhile, finished with silver in the -63kg category in controversial fashion after a punch to his neck forced him to withdraw midway through the final against Tunisia’s Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi last Saturday.
Mahdi Razmian (-54kg), Mohammad-Sadeq Dehqani (-68kg), and Mohammad-Hossein Yazdani (-87kg) as well as Arian Salimi (+87kg) and Mehran Barkhordari (-80kg) – last year’s Olympic gold and silver medalists respectively – all missed out on the podium in Wuxi.
South Korea claimed a 25th men’s title in 27 editions – thanks to two gold medals, one silver, and double bronzes – with Brazil, Uzbekistan, and Egypt finishing third to fifth respectively.
Women’s woe
Elsewhere on the final day, Mobina Nematzadeh capped a dreadful campaign for the Iranian women’s team with a last-16 exit in the -53kg division.
Given a bye in the first round, the 20-year-old Iranian, who won an impressive bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, got off to winning start to her World Championships debut, beating Lebanon’s Mariella Bou Habib 2-0 (8-0, 7-0) but fell in straight rounds (4-3, 2-0) against Turkey’s Merve Dinçel, who went on to secure back-to-back world golds.
Earlier in Wuxi, Kowsar Asaseh (-62kg) and former world silver medalist Mahla Momenzadeh (-49kg) had their campaigns ended after two bouts, while Saeideh Nasiri (-46kg), Olympic silver medalist Nahid Kiani (-57kg), and Melika Mirhosseini (-73kg) failed to go beyond last 16 in their respective classes. Nastaran Valizadeh, meanwhile, suffered a first-round exit in the -67kg division.