WANA (Sep 06) – Iran secured its first gold medal at the 2025 Wushu World Championships in Brazil on the third day of competition, with Mehdi Moradi winning in the sanda 90kg category.

 

Moradi defeated Mexico’s Cruz Perez in the second round of the group stage, forcing a disqualification in the very first round to claim the gold. He had earlier overcome Turkmenistan’s Sardar Yurokaliev.

 

Earlier in the day, Soheil Mousavi advanced to the semifinals in the men’s sanda 80kg after defeating Brazil’s Davi de Marce Oliveira 2–0. Mousavi had previously eliminated Tunisia’s Majed Munzer.

 

Iran also shone in the women’s sanda semifinals. Sedigheh Daryaei (65kg) advanced to the final after overpowering Mexico’s Munaraz Muniz, forcing a first-round disqualification. Soheila Mansourian (70kg) reached the final by defeating Tunisia’s Naouie Chaima in just one minute, while her sister, Shaharbanoo Mansourian (75kg), overcame Sydney Carr of the United States 2–0 to secure a place in the final.

 

In the taolu discipline, Zahra Kiani scored 9.736 in the Changquan form to place second among 23 participants and qualify for the final. Meanwhile, Abolfazl Gharabaghi finished seventh in the Jianshu form with a score of 9.706, and Helia Asadian narrowly missed a medal in the Nanguan form, placing fourth by just 0.004 points.

Iran's Wushu team

Iran’s Wushu team. Social media/ WANA News Agency