World Fencing Championships:
Pakdaman crashes out in men’s saber last 16
Iran’s Ali Pakdaman suffered a last-16 exit in the men’s individual saber event, capping a disappointing campaign for the country’s quadruple at the World Fencing Championships in Hong Kong.
The former Asian champion claimed five successive victories to advance from the preliminary rounds. He then defeated Matteo Neri – a member of Italy’s team that won gold at the previous edition – 15-13, before edging American William Morrill by the same scoreline. Pakdaman’s run ended with a 15-6 defeat to Egypt’s Mohamed Amer.
Russia’s Pavel Graudyn defeated South Korea’s Do Gyeong-dong 15-7 in the final to win the title, while Amer and Romania’s Radu Nițu shared the bronze medals.
Mohammad Fotouhi, Nima Zahedi, and Taha Kargarpour were the other Iranian fencers in the men’s saber event. All progressed from the preliminary phase but failed to advance beyond the round of 64.
Zahedi was beaten 15-13 by Uzbekistan’s Sardor Abdukarimbekov in his second knockout bout, while Kargarpour overcame Ukraine’s Oleksiy Statsenko 15-13 before losing 15-11 to Russia’s Kamil Ibragimov.
Fotouhi, meanwhile, suffered a 15-10 defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Adel Almutairi in the opening knockout round.