World Taekwondo Junior Championships:
Iranian trio in action on Day 1
Three Iranians will get their campaigns underway when the 15th edition of the World Taekwondo Junior Championships kicks off today in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Zahra Sadat Mousavi and Pinar Lotfizadeh will represent the country in the girls’ -46kg and -59kg weight classes, respectively, with Amir-Ali Hazrati competing in the boys’ +78kg category.
The second day of the competition will see Dina Babarahim vie for glory in the girls’ -55kg class, while Taha Nazer (-48kg) and Mohammad-Erfan Khodaei (-55kg) will be in action in the boys’ event.
On Tuesday, Bahar Tahmasbi will compete in the girls’ -42kg category, while in the boys’ competition, Benyamin Soltanian (-73kg) and Amirarsalan Ahmadi (-45kg) will carry Iran’s hopes.
Asal Goltapeh and Negar Mozaffari will compete for Iran in the girls’ -68kg and -44kg events on Wednesday, with Mohammad Javad Geryan and Amir Eghbali taking the mat in the boys’ -78kg and -59kg divisions.
Heliya Ebrahimian will represent Iran in the girls’ -49kg category on Day 5. In the boys’ events, Abolfazl Najafi and Parsa Hooshyar will go head-to-head with their opponents in the -68kg and -63kg divisions.
The championships will conclude with Aynaz Mikaeili and Rozhan Heydari in the girls’ -63kg and -52kg events on Friday, while Ali Razmian competes in the boys’ -51kg category.
A total of 986 young athletes will take to the mats across 20 weight categories for boys and girls in the Uzbek capital.
Named ‘Caravan of Hormuz,’ the Iranian squads had been conducting their preparatory camps in the north of the country amid the military conflict with the United States and Israel, which began on February 28, before embarking on their journey.
On Tuesday, they crossed the Turkish border by land and traveled to the city of Van. From there, the team flew to Tashkent, arriving on Friday morning.
The delegation has been named ‘Hormuz’ in honor of the bravery of Iran’s armed forces in safeguarding the nation, particularly the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Iran bagged a total of 11 medals, including a remarkable seven golds, to make a clean sweep of double team titles in the previous edition of the competition in Chuncheon, South Korea, in 2024.