WT President’s Cup:
Iran dominates with five kyorugi golds, three bronzes
Iranian athletes stole the show on the first day of kyorugi competition at the World Taekwondo President’s Cup – Asia 2026 in Lahore, Pakistan, collecting a remarkable five gold medals across six men’s and women’s categories.
There was further success for Iran, as Amirsina Bakhtiari (men’s -74kg), Yalda Valinejad (women’s -62kg) and Fatemeh Ahmadi (women’s +73kg) added three bronze medals to the country’s haul on Tuesday.
Reigning two-time world junior champion Hana Zarrinkamar carried the momentum from her gold-winning run at July’s Korea Open to secure the top prize in the women’s +73kg division.
Having beaten Ahmadi in an all-Iranian semifinal, the teen prodigy came out on top in straight rounds, 9-6, 4-2, against Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Saidova in the final.
Nastaran Valizadeh was the other Iranian gold medalist in the women’s competition, defeating Uzbekistan’s Diyorakhon Azizova, who had beaten Valinejad in the semifinals, in straight rounds, 0-0, 12-0, in the -62kg final.
In the men’s competition, Abolfazl Zandi lived up to expectations as the reigning senior and U23 world champion, defeating South Korea’s An Hyang-sik in straight rounds, 11-6, 12-3, in the -58kg final. The victory added to his gold medal from May’s Asian Championships and his Korea Open triumph.
Representing Iran in the -74kg class, Radin Zeinali also claimed gold at the expense of a South Korean opponent in the final, while Olympic champion Arian Salimi rounded out a glorious day for the country with the top prize in the +87kg division.
Salimi began his campaign with a win over host representative Muhammad Farrukh before defeating compatriot Ali Najafi in the semifinals. He then outclassed South Korea’s Park Chan-hui 12-3, 10-1 in the final.
Tuesday’s results came after Iranian athletes collected seven medals, including one gold, in the poomsae competition on the opening day in Lahore.
Yasaman Limouchi headlined the medal haul with gold in the recognized category and silver in freestyle in the women’s competition, while Mobina Sharifimaher, Yassin Akbari and Morteza Zendedel added three silver and three bronze medals.