WT World Cup Team Championships:
Iran women defeat Thailand to claim bronze
Iran’s women’s national taekwondo team secured the bronze medal at the World Taekwondo World Cup Team Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea, after a commanding 2-0 victory over Thailand in the third-place playoff on Wednesday.
Iran bounced back from a semifinal defeat to Russia after opening its campaign with a victory over India, producing a dominant display to finish on the podium.
Coached by Mehrouz Saei, the Iranian squad featured Yalda Valinejad, Baran Nemati, Hasti Mohammadi, with Fatemeh Ahmadi serving as the reserve athlete.
Iran controlled the contest from the outset against Thailand, dictating the pace with aggressive attacks in the opening round. The Thai team struggled to cope with Iran’s relentless pressure as the Iranian women took the first round comfortably.
The second round followed a similar pattern, with Iran establishing an early lead and maintaining complete control throughout. Thailand failed to mount a comeback, and Iran wrapped up the round with a convincing 100-45 victory.
Wednesday’s medal came after Iran men – the most decorated team in the history of the competition with six titles – had been stunned by Thailand in the first round, suffering a 2-0 loss to miss out on the semifinals.
The three-day event will continue with the mixed team competition today, before the Korea Open G1 event gets underway in the South Korean city on Saturday.