Asian Cadet Judo Championships:
Hakimi wins gold as Iran finishes third with four medals
Iran collected four medals, including two golds, to finish third in the team standings at the Asian Cadet Judo Championships in Amman, Jordan.
Uzbekistan dominated the competition with an impressive haul of 11 gold, four silver, and five bronze medals. Kazakhstan, which also won two golds, edged Iran for the runner-up spot thanks to seven silvers and six bronzes.
Sobhan Hakimi headlined Iran’s medal haul on the final day of the event by claiming gold in the men’s -81kg division with a victory over Samandar Sunnatov in the final.
The teenage sensation began his campaign by defeating Indonesia’s Satrio Yulianto before overcoming Kyrgyzstan’s Baiel Isakov to secure his place in the title bout.
Joining Hakimi on the podium was fellow Iranian Hossein Novin, who bounced back from a semifinal defeat to Sunnatov by beating Yulianto to claim bronze.
An all-Iranian contest saw Amirreza Alizadeh defeat Mohammad Barfaraz in the bronze-medal bout of the men’s -90kg division to add a second bronze to Iran’s tally.
The highlight of Iran’s campaign came on the penultimate day of the competition, when Mahsa Shakibaei made history by winning the country’s first-ever women’s gold medal at the continental championships, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Lin Pei-Hsin in the -52kg final.
Shakibaei produced a series of commanding performances en route to the title, opening her campaign with a victory over Uzbekistan’s Kumushbibi Ergasheva before defeating Syria’s Sham Almawardi in the semifinals to book her place in the gold-medal contest.
The triumph added to an already impressive résumé for Shakibaei, who also won gold at last year’s Asian Youth Games in Bahrain, further underlining her status as one of the country’s brightest young prospects.
Elsewhere, Mohammad Hadidi narrowly missed out on a podium finish in the men’s +90kg division after losing to Kyrgyz judoka Nurel Dildebekov in the bronze-medal bout.
Reza Nejadkachiani (men’s -55kg) and Elsana Boroumandi (women’s -63kg) were the other Iranians in action in the Jordanian capital, finishing seventh in their respective weight classes.