Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games:
Iran beats South Korea in men’s wheelchair basketball, blind football
Iran defeated South Korea 67-62 to secure a second victory in the men’s wheelchair basketball event at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games in Japan on Saturday.
Mohammad-Hassan Sayyari led Iran’s scoring with 17 points in 21 minutes and 10 seconds on the court at Nagoya’s Aichi International Arena, while Vahid Gholamzad added 14 points as Iran moved atop the Group B standings with four points, having routed Iraq 81-23 in its opening game on Friday.
Omid Hadiazhar also played a key role in Saturday’s victory, recording an impressive double-double of 12 points and 10 assists, while Mahdi Abbasi and Morteza Abedi contributed 11 points apiece, helping Iran to recover from a three-point deficit at halftime.
Gim Donghyeon scored a game-high 18 points for South Korea, silver medalists at Hangzhou 2022, with Kim Sangyeol and Cho Seunghyun chipping in 15 points each.
Having claimed bronze in the two editions either side of their 2018 gold, Iran will continue its bid for a fourth medal in as many editions with a match against the Philippines on Monday, the final day of the group stage.
The Philippines, beaten 84-31 by South Korea in its opener, suffered a 72-35 defeat to Iraq later on Saturday.
Elsewhere at the multi-sport event, Iran suffered a 5-3 defeat to South Korea in men’s goalball.
In men’s blind football, Iran bounced back from a 1-0 opening-day loss to Thailand to beat South Korea 3-1.
Hossein Rajabpour scored twice in the opening 14 minutes, with Sadeq Rahimiqasr adding a third goal in the 17th minute. Kwon Kangmin pulled one back for South Korea in the first minute of the second half.
The fifth edition of the Asian Para Games will officially open with a ceremony at Nagoya’s Paloma Mizuho Stadium today.
Iran is represented by 166 athletes, including 62 women, across 15 sports at the event, which will run through Oct. 24.
Having finished fourth in the first two editions – Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014 – before finishing third in Jakarta 2018, Iran achieved its best-ever finish in the history of the Games in Hangzhou in 2022, collecting 44 golds, 46 silvers and 41 bronzes to finish runner-up in the medal table behind China.
The country’s most successful campaign in terms of medals, however, came in Jakarta in 2018, where Iran bagged 51 golds, 43 silvers and 42 bronzes, but ultimately settled for third place behind China and South Korea.
Athletics has been Iran’s most productive sport across the five editions, yielding 238 medals, including 83 golds, while swimming, archery and powerlifting have each contributed 13 gold medals.