Kiani misses out on taolu podium, Golshadnejad crashes out in women’s kumite
The second day of action at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Japan was one to forget for Iranian hopefuls Zahra Kiani and Atousa Golshadnejad.
Kiani, who made history by securing Iran’s first-ever women’s taolu gold at last year’s World Wushu Championships, finished empty-handed in a closely contested changquan event at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall, missing out on the podium by narrow margins.
Kiani, who also won gold at the 2024 Asian Championships, tallied 9.703 points in Monday’s final.
Hong Kong’s Lydia Sham delivered a 9.713-point performance to grab the top prize, with Macau’s Sou Cho Man settling for silver on 9.710, while Indonesia’s Eugenia Diva Widodo took the bronze with 9.706 points.
In karate, reigning world champion Golshadnejad entered the women’s kumite -68kg contest – featuring eight participants – as a clear favorite for the gold, but was stunned by Japan’s Kama Tsubasa 2-0 to crash out in the first round.
Kabaddi victory
The Iranian women’s team got off to an emphatic start in Group A by hammering the host team 63-20 at the Tokai Citizen Gymnasium.
Iran, which won the Asian Games gold in 2018 before settling for bronze in Hangzhou 2022, will be back in action against Bangladesh on Tuesday, before taking on India in a highly anticipated meeting the following day.
There was also a victorious start for the Iranian pair in men’s beach volleyball, as Abbas Pourasgari and Alireza Aqajani defeated Joninho Fernandes Xavier and Joel Savio Valente of Timor-Leste 2-0 (21-12, 21-4) in their Pool F opener.
“Thank God, we took a strong first step. Everything went according to our coach’s plan, and we carried out everything he had told us and everything we had practiced on the court,” Aqajani said after the match.
Looking ahead to Iran’s next match against Oman’s Ahmed Al-Housni and Khalfan Al-Mamari on Wednesday, Aqajani said: “The Omanis are a tough opponent. We have played against them two or three times. They are a good team, but we are focused on winning and reaching the top of the standings in our final match against Thailand.”
Aqajani added that finishing first in the group would give Iran a strong chance of progressing further in the competition.
“We want to finish first in the group so that we have a better chance of advancing to the later stages,” he said.
Beaten by Bahrain
Iran’s losing run in the men’s handball event continued on Sunday, after the country fell to a 34-20 defeat against reigning Asian champion Bahrain in Group B.
Having suffered a 26-24 loss to Kuwait in their group opener, Iran will take on another formidable opponent in South Korea today, before facing Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
Four finalists
Four Iranian men enjoyed an impressive run of results in artistic gymnastics on Sunday, booking places in their respective apparatus finals.
In the still rings, Siavash Siahi scored 13.866 to finish seventh, while Mahdi Ahmadkohani placed 11th with 13.663, with both securing spots in the final.
Arman Khodaei also reached the final on the pommel horse after scoring 14.400 to finish fourth in the qualifiers.
Mahdi Olfati qualified third in the vault with a final score of 14.083, based on two attempts of 14.966 and 13.200.
Mohammadreza Hamidi finished ninth in the horizontal bar with 12.833 and was named the first reserve for the final.
The pommel horse and still rings finals will be held on Thursday, while the vault final is scheduled for Friday.