World Taekwondo Grand Prix:
Iran calls up 10-man squad for Series final
Iran men’s head coach Payam Khanlarkhani has called up a 10-man squad for a training camp ahead of the upcoming World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series event in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The fourth and final event of this year’s Series will be staged in the Kazakh capital on November 28-29, serving as part of the qualification pathway for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
Reigning Olympic champion Arian Salimi will headline the Iranian roster in Astana, looking to pick up where he left off at the previous Grand Prix event in Paris last month, where he defeated Caden Cunningham in the +80kg final to repeat his triumph over the Briton in the final of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Joining Salimi at the training camp are world and Asian champion Abolfazl Zandi – also a gold medalist at the Paris Grand Prix – Mahdi Haji-Mousaei, Amirsina Bakhtiari, Yasin Valizadeh, Radin Zeinali, Danial Bozorgi, Amirreza Gholami, Ali-Asghar Alimoradian and Mohammad-Hossein Yazdani.
Notably absent from the squad is national team captain Mehran Barkhordari. The Paris Olympic silver medalist’s omission from the training camp has been attributed to his failure to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.