Fujairah Open International Taekwondo Championships:
Ne’matzadeh strikes gold as Iranian girls bag seven medals
Mobina Ne’matzadeh captured the -53kg gold to spearhead Iran’s seven-medal haul in the women’s competition at the Fujairah Open International Taekwondo Championships in the United Arab Emirates.
With the tournament serving as a World Taekwondo G2 event and contributing valuable Olympic qualification ranking points, Sunday’s triumph at Sheikh Zayed Sport City boosted Ne’matzadeh’s chances in her bid for a berth at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, following her bronze-medal finish at Paris 2024.
Elsewhere in the women’s competition, teenage sensation Saina Karimi (-46kg) – who claimed an impressive gold at last November’s Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh – along with Kowsar Asaseh (-62kg) and Fatemeh Ahmadi (+73kg), settled for silver medals in their respective weight classes.
Saina Alipour (-46kg), Maryam Malakoutikhah (-49kg), and Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medalist Melika Mirhosseini (-73kg), meanwhile, finished their campaigns with three consolation bronze medals.
A total of 1,709 athletes – including 206 senior female competitors – from 66 countries took part across senior, junior, cadet, and children’s divisions at the 13th edition of the prestigious tournament.