Asian Taekwondo Championships:
Iran finishes men’s runner-up, Kiani saves the day for women’s team
The Iranian men’s team had to settle for a runner-up finish at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, despite an impressive haul of four gold medals, as well as one silver and one bronze across eight weight classes.
Mahdi Tajik’s men must have felt unlucky to miss out on defending their team title, as only a single bronze medal separated them from South Korea, which celebrated its 21st men’s crown in 27 editions.
Jordan finished third with one gold and two bronze medals.
The final day of the showpiece at the M Bank Arena saw Iran’s Amirreza Sadeqian finish his campaign with a consolation bronze medal in the men’s -80kg category after a semifinal setback against South Korea’s Seo Geon-woo.
Amir-Abbas Rahnama and Mohammad-Hassan Palangafkan were also in action on the final day, finishing empty-handed in the men’s -68kg event.
Reigning Olympic champion Arian Salimi had opened Iran’s gold-medal account in the Mongolian capital with a dramatic victory in Thursday’s +87kg showdown, before world champion Abolfazl Zandi (-58kg) and Mahdi Hajimousaei (-63kg) claimed the top prize in their respective divisions over the following two days.
Yasin Valizadeh, meanwhile, marked his senior debut at the Asian Championships with an impressive silver medal in the -54kg division.
Amir-Sina Bakhtiari (-74kg) was the other Iranian gold medalist in the men’s competition, though his medal was not counted toward the country’s tally, as he was handed a place in the event through an Asian Taekwondo Union invitation.
Kiani to the rescue
The highlight of Iran’s final-day campaign, however, came in the women’s competition, where Olympic silver medalist Nahid Kiani won gold in the -57kg category.
Former world champion Kiani, who recovered from knee surgery in time to make the showpiece, defeated Uzbekistan’s Madina Mirabzalova in straight rounds in the final to add to the Asian title she won in 2022.
Yalda Valinejad, meanwhile, suffered a 2-1 semifinal defeat against China’s Luo Zongshi – the 2022 world champion and a two-time Asian Games gold medalist – to finish with a bronze medal in the women’s -62kg class.
The two medals brought an end to a disappointing campaign for the Iranian women, after Masoumeh Ranjbar, Fatemeh Ahmadi, Baran Nemati, Mahla Momenzadeh, Fereshteh Fat’hi, Saghar Moradi, and Olympic bronze medalist Mobina Nematzadeh all missed out on medals in their respective events.
Iran finished fourth in the women’s standings behind Chinese Taipei, South Korea, and China.