World Taekwondo Junior Championships:
Zarrinkamar, Soltanian power Iran to double gold on Day 3
Iranians stole the show on Day 3 of the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, grabbing two golds and a bronze across four weight classes.
Hana Zarrinkamar secured back-to-back golds at the competition with a victory over Czechia’s Alice Bínová in the women’s +68kg final on Tuesday, while Benyamin Soltanian dominated the men’s -73kg event without dropping a single round all day.
Bahar Tahmasbi settled for a consolation bronze in the women’s -42kg event, raising Iran’s medal tally to five across three days of action at the Martial Arts Sports Complex in Tashkent’s Olympic City.
Zarrinkamar clinched the first round against Bínová by a points gap in swift fashion, then dominated the second to win 11-3. The Iranian started her day with a victory over Greece’s Eleni Pramatioti (2-0), then defeated Dutch opponent Nielle Vroegh in three rounds to advance to the last eight, where she overcame Tunisia’s Ilef Aleya in straight rounds. A 2-0 win over Croatia’s Sara Zizic sent Zarrinkamar into the final.
Soltanian, meanwhile, capped his emphatic run with a 2-0 win over South Korea’s Seung Min Ahn. The Iranian delivered a controlled performance in the final, taking the rounds 4-1 and 7-3. After a first-round bye, Soltanian swept Greece’s Ioannis Kamakas, Bosnia’s Adin Hodzic, Mexico’s Joshua Cruz, and Ukraine’s Roman Hodyma to book his place in the final.
Tahmasbi got off to a winning start, defeating Egypt’s Joudy Mhamoud Ali 2-1, then overcame Russia’s Svetlana Selezneva, Germany’s Johanna Car Zander, and Spain’s Rebeca Jule Saade before a 2-1 loss to South Korea’s Geunmi Lee saw her settle for a joint third-place finish alongside Poland’s Lena Kaszkowiak.
Amir-Arsalan Ahmadi was the other Iranian in action on Tuesday but suffered a first-round exit in the men’s -45kg division, falling 2-1 to Denmark’s Yosef Darid Aulaqi.
Tuesday’s results followed Mohammad-Erfan Khodaei’s first gold for the country the previous day in Tashkent, a 2-0 victory over Poland’s Antoni Sokolowski in the men’s -55kg final — the Iranian’s sixth straight-round win of the competition.
Pinar Lotfizadeh had opened Iran’s account on Day 1, taking bronze in the women’s -59kg class after a last-four defeat to China’s Ren Kunyue on Sunday.
The 15th edition of the championships — featuring 986 competitors from 115 countries — concludes on Friday.
Iran bagged 11 medals at the previous edition in Chuncheon, South Korea, in 2024, including a remarkable seven golds, to complete a clean sweep of the team titles.