Iranian karateka Saleh Abazari, who bagged the Asian Championship’s gold medal at +84kg last week, added another gold to his name today after defeating host rival 4-0 at the 11th FISU World University Karate Championship currently underway in the Japanese city of Kobe. He had defeated opponents from Poland, France and Hungary to advance to the final fixture.
Also on Sunday, Iran’s Avishan Bagheri conceded defeat 2-0 against her Japanese rival at the final showdown in the -55kg category and grabbed the silver medal. Melika Ahadi won Iran its second silver after conceding defeat against a Japanese rival in the -61kg category.
Meanwhile, Faezeh Chizari in the -50kg, and Behnoush Najafi in the -68kg won the Iranian female squad a bronze medal each, and Ali Meskini in the -60kg and Mehdi Rahiminejad in the -68kg collected a bronze for the men’s team.
The Iranian squad still has a chance to win two gold medals in the team kumite and individual kata by the end of today.
329 karate practitioners from 33 countries have been taking part in the 11th FISU World University Karate Championship in Kobe, Japan. The international tournament kicked off on July 18 and will wrap up today on July 22.
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