2026 Chuncheon Korea Open:
Zarrinkamar strikes gold, leads Iran women’s medal haul
Iran’s women’s taekwondo team collected five medals, including one gold, at the 2026 Chuncheon Korea Open, as the country concluded the two-day event with 12 medals across the men’s and women’s competitions.
Reigning two-time world junior champion Hana Zarrinkamar headlined Iran’s medal haul by claiming gold in the +73kg category on Tuesday. After receiving a first-round bye, the Iranian prodigy defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nai-Cih in straight rounds to reach the semifinals before comfortably overcoming South Korea’s Song Da-bin.
Zarrinkamar then rallied from one round down to beat China’s Gyu Li in the final, winning the next two rounds to secure the title.
Fatemeh Ahmadi, Iran’s other entrant in the division, defeated an opponent from Uzbekistan before losing to South Korea’s Song.
Olympic silver medalist Nahid Kiani earned silver in the -57kg category. Kiani defeated opponents from India, Australia, Uzbekistan and China before suffering a 2-0 defeat to Morocco’s U21 world champion Amina Dehhaoui in the final.
Hasti Mohammadi also competed in the -57kg category, defeating athletes from the United States and China before losing to Dehhaoui.
Teenage sensation Saina Karimi, who won gold at last year’s Islamic Solidarity Games, secured bronze in the -46kg division. She opened with a victory over Britain’s Lauren Dunsmore before defeating opponents from Russia and China to reach the semifinals, where she lost in straight rounds to another Chinese competitor.
Rozhan Goudarzi exited in the -53kg category after defeating Australia’s Christoffel Tamzin in her opening bout before losing to another Australian, Bianca Motta.
Farzaneh Fathi was eliminated in the -67kg division after defeating Australia’s Paige Cover before falling to China’s Xing Jiani.
Iran’s other representative in the weight class, Saghar Moradi, claimed bronze after losing to a South Korean opponent in the semifinals.
Baran Nemati added another bronze in the -73kg category. She defeated opponents from Chinese Taipei and China before losing in straight rounds to China’s Song Jie in the last four.
Men’s dominance
The women’s medal tally followed a successful outing by Iran’s men’s team, which won five gold medals and two bronzes on the opening day.
Asian silver medalist Yasin Valizadeh opened Iran’s gold-medal haul in the -54kg division. After defeating a South Korean opponent to reach the semifinals, he overcame an Uzbek rival to book his place in the final. Valizadeh then defeated another South Korean in straight rounds, 7-1 and 3-2, to secure the title.
Reigning world and Asian champion Abolfazl Zandi continued his impressive run of form by claiming gold in the -58kg category. One of Iran’s standout performers over the past year, Zandi advanced confidently to the final before defeating his opponent in two rounds, 10-8 and 12-11.
Asian champion Mahdi Haji Mousaei added another gold for Iran in the -63kg event, producing an assured display to beat a South Korean opponent in the final.
Iran also celebrated victory in the -87kg division through Mohammad Hossein Yazdani. After defeating a South Korean athlete in the semifinals, Yazdani overcame Thailand’s representative in straight rounds in the final to capture the title.
Olympic champion Arian Salimi completed Iran’s golden campaign in the +87kg category. Salimi advanced to the final after his scheduled semifinal against fellow Iranian Ali Najafi was cancelled because of Najafi’s injury. He then defeated a South Korean opponent 2-1 in the final to claim the gold medal, while Najafi was awarded bronze.
In the -74kg division, Amir Sina Bakhtiari settled for bronze after losing to a South Korean competitor in the semifinals. Bakhtiari, who recently secured a place in Iran’s squad for the 2026 Asian Games, had defeated two South Korean opponents as well as a Russian athlete en route to the last four.
Iran, however, failed to reach the podium in the -80kg category after both team captain Mehran Barkhordari and Amirreza Sadeqian suffered early exits.
The five gold medals and two bronzes underlined Iran’s strength as the team continued its preparations for the Asian Games later this year.
The two-day event marked another impressive showing for Iranian taekwondo in Chuncheon after the country won the mixed team title and women’s bronze at the WT World Cup Team Championships there last week.