Asian Karate Championships:
Iran bags double bronze on Day 2, Nemati into final in men’s kumite
The second day of the AKF Asian Karate Championships in Bali, Indonesia, saw Iranians collect two bronze medals in the women’s competition on Friday, while Morteza Nemati secured a place in the men’s kumite -75kg final.
Nemati, a silver medalist in Tashkent last year, began his campaign with a 12-2 victory over Uzbekistan’s Mamayusuf Mukimjonov before defeating Kuwait’s Omar Al-Jenaei 8-3 to advance to the semifinals.
The Iranian then outclassed Japan’s Sakiyama Yusei 9-2 to set up a final showdown with defending champion Nurkanat Azhikanov on Sunday. Nemati will be looking to make amends for last year’s defeat against the Kazakhstani karateka, who is chasing a third title in four continental championships.
In the women’s kumite contests, Iran’s Mehrnegar Ahmadi bounced back from a 4-0 loss to last year’s bronze medalist, Sarara Shimada of Japan, to defeat Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Man 6-1 and claim a consolation bronze in the -61kg class. She shared the third podium place with China’s Gong Li.
Elsewhere in the kumite competitions, Hadi Kiani suffered an early exit in the men’s -67kg division after back-to-back defeats to Kazakhstan’s Olzhas Altynbek (3-1) and Kyrgyzstan’s Erlan Akylbek Uulu (3-0).
Masoumeh Mohsenian, meanwhile, was unlucky to miss out on bronze in the women’s -55kg class after a 3-0 loss to Vietnam’s Hoang Thi My Tam in the third-place bout.
In the kata contests, the Iranian trio of Fatemeh Sadeqi, Sepideh Amini, and Zeinab Hosseini settled for bronze in the women’s team event, recovering from a 7-0 defeat to Japan in the semifinals to beat Hong Kong 5-2 in the third-place playoff.
It was Sadeqi’s second bronze medal in Bali after she had defeated China’s Tao Yiwei 6-1 to secure a joint third-place finish alongside the Philippines’ Sakura Alforte in the women’s individual kata on the opening day – the Iranian’s fifth bronze medal in the history of the competition.
The Iranian team of Mahdi Shahin, Matin Farimand, Mobin Jabbari, and Sahand Eslami, meanwhile, saw their men’s kata campaign end in the first round following a 5-2 defeat to Chinese Taipei.
Friday’s results came after Ali Zand had opened Iran’s account with a bronze medal in the men’s individual kata on the previous day, courtesy of a 7-0 victory over China’s Zheng Qianqu.
The opening day of the kumite competitions, however, was one to forget for the Iranians, as both contestants finished empty-handed in their respective categories.
In the men’s -55kg division, Behnam Dehqanzadeh, the 2023 Asian champion, fell to an 8-3 semifinal defeat against reigning champion Zholaman Bigabyl of Kazakhstan before losing 3-2 to Thailand’s Natthakrit Ingloy in the bronze-medal bout.
The biggest upset of the day for Iran came in the women’s -50kg category, where Sara Bahmanyar – a two-time world bronze medalist and gold medalist at the 2025 World Games – suffered a shock 3-1 loss to Indonesia’s Gusti Rahadian and crashed out in the second round.