WT President’s Cup:
Iran rounds off kyorugi contests with 16 medals
Iran enjoyed a prolific kyorugi campaign at the World Taekwondo President’s Cup – Asia 2026, collecting 16 medals across the men’s and women’s competitions to win the team title in Lahore, Pakistan.
Danial Bozorgi brought the curtain down on a glorious three days of action for the country by claiming the top prize in the men’s -68kg category on Thursday.
Having beaten reigning Asian champion Mun Jin-ho of South Korea in straight rounds in the semifinals, Bozorgi went on to defeat Uzbekistan’s Shokhijakhon Akhmedov 2-1 (6-0, 7-9, 5-0) in the final to add the seventh gold medal to Iran’s haul.
The event, however, was one to forget for Olympic silver medalist and Asian champion Nahid Kiani, who had to settle for a bronze in the women’s -57kg class after suffering a 2-1 defeat to familiar foe Kim Yu-jin of South Korea – who had beaten Kiani in the Paris Olympic final – in the semifinals.
Elsewhere, Saina Karimi (-46kg) and Sara Soufi (-73kg) won bronze in their respective women’s events, while Mohammad-Hossein Yazdani finished joint third in the men’s -87kg division.
Reigning world and Asian champion Abolfazl Zandi (-58kg), Mahdi Hajimousaei (-63kg), Radin Zeinali (-74kg) and Olympic champion Arian Salimi (+87kg) had won gold in their respective men’s events over the previous two days, while Nastaran Valizadeh (-63kg) and two-time world junior champion Hana Zarrinkamar (+73kg) finished atop the podium in the women’s competition.
Shaparak Najafi was the sole Iranian silver medalist in the event after losing to Thailand’s Chutikan Jongkolrattanawattana in the women’s -53kg final.
Yalda Valinejad (-63kg), Saghar Mordai (-67kg), Fatemeh Ahmadi (+73kg) and Amirsina Bakhtiari (-74kg) contributed four bronze medals, as Iran beat South Korea to claim the team crown in the G-3 tournament.
South Korea bagged five golds, four silvers and six bronzes, while Kazakhstan stood third in the medal table with two golds and three silvers.
Earlier in Lahore, Iranian athletes had collected seven medals, including one gold, in the poomsae competition.
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.