World Taekwondo Under-21 Championships:
Iran’s Gholami grabs gold, Mohammadi settles for bronze on Day 2
The second day of the inaugural World Taekwondo Under-21 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, saw Amirreza Gholami capture Iran’s second gold medal in the men’s competition on Thursday.
Hasti Mohammadi, meanwhile, secured her second international bronze in less than a month, finishing joint third in the women’s -57kg event.
Gholami capped off his impressive campaign with a thrilling 3-2, 8-8, 7-6 victory over Spanish top seed Mikel Fernandez Garcia in the -80kg final.
The Iranian prodigy began the day with a win against Türkiye’s Idris Atay Sulu, then defeated Morocco’s Haitam Zarhouti – a gold medalist at last month’s Islamic Solidarity Games – to reach the quarterfinals, where he beat Jordan’s Mohammad Aladarbi in straight rounds.
Gholami continued his strong form by overcoming Belarusian second seed Raman Turavinau – competing as a neutral athlete – in back-to-back rounds to book his place in the final.
Earlier in the day, Mohammadi, who captured an impressive bronze at the Islamic Solidarity Games, suffered a semifinal setback against reigning world under-18 champion Amina Dehhaoui of Morocco, finishing with a consolation bronze.
Mohammadi defeated Germany’s Roja Rezaie (2-0) and Jessica Lynn Lee (2-1), before mounting a comeback to beat Greece’s Athanasia Repoulia 2-1 and advance to the semifinals.
Amirabbas Rahanama was the other Iranian in action on Thursday but was unlucky to finish empty-handed in the men’s -63kg division. He suffered a controversial quarterfinal loss to Türkiye’s Hamza Osma Aydogan, with the Iranian coaching staff believing poor refereeing decisions cost Rahanama a place in the last four.
Thursday’s results followed Iran’s double medal haul in the men’s competition on the opening day.
Abolfazl Zandi – a world senior champion in late October – capped off a brilliant five-week stretch by winning gold in the men’s -58kg category, defeating Russian neutral athlete Magomedg Magomedov 2-0 in the final.
Zandi delivered an emphatic run in the Kenyan capital, outclassing India’s Shaury Chakravarti, Ecuador’s Iker Josue Rojas, Mexico’s Carlos Cortes, and Brazil’s Gabriel Fonseca without dropping a single round en route to the title match.
Meanwhile, world junior champion Amirmohammad Ashrafi claimed joint bronze alongside Tunisia’s Motaz Ifaoui in the men’s +87kg division after a 2-1 semifinal defeat against Kazakhstan’s Beibarys Kablan, who went on to beat South Korea’s Yang Jun-young in the final.
Ashrafi had earlier defeated Lebanon’s Charbel Raad 2-0 before overcoming Russian athlete Kirill Lisitsin in straight rounds to reach the semifinals.
In the women’s competition, Sara Soufi opened her +73kg campaign with a 2-0 win over Australia’s Kim Soohyeon but exited in the round of 16 after a loss to American top seed Naomi Alade.
ISG bronze medalist Rojan Goodarzi saw her -49kg campaign end without a bout after she refused to compete against an Israeli opponent in the first round.