WANA (May 24) – Iran’s national men’s taekwondo team secured the runner-up title at the 27th Asian Taekwondo Championships after winning five medals in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

 

The tournament was held from May 20 to May 23 at the MBank Arena in the Mongolian capital, with around 350 athletes from across Asia competing in the event. Iran’s men’s and women’s teams collected a total of eight medals during the competition.

 

In the men’s division, Iran finished second overall with three gold medals, one silver, and one bronze. South Korea claimed the championship title with three golds, one silver, and two bronzes, while Jordan placed third with one gold and two bronzes.

 

Iran’s gold medals were won by Abolfazl Zandi in the -58 kg category, Mahdi Hajimousaei in the -63 kg division, and Arin Salimi in the +87 kg category. Yasin Valizadeh earned a silver medal in the -54 kg class, while Amirreza Sadeghian took bronze in the -80 kg division.

 

Amirsina Bakhtiari also won a gold medal after participating by invitation from the Asian Taekwondo Union rather than as part of Iran’s official squad. However, according to tournament regulations, medals won by athletes competing outside official team lineups are not counted in the final medal standings.

 

In the women’s competition, Nahid Kiani won gold in the -57 kg category and Yalda Valinejad secured bronze in the -62 kg division. Iran’s women’s team finished fourth overall behind Chinese Taipei, South Korea, and China.

 

The Asian Taekwondo Union is expected to announce soon the list of athletes who qualified for the Nagoya Asian Games in both poomsae and kyurogi events.