Following one gold and three bronze medals on Saturday, Iran’s shining day at the 28th Karate World Championships was topped off after Amir Mehdizadeh quelled the Dutch rival at -60kg weight category and stood on the first podium.
Mehdizadeh had previously won the gold and bronze medals of 2012 and 2014 editions of the sportive event and the new trophy turned him into the first ever Iranian karateka to have won two world titles.
On road to the final encounter, the Iranian athlete had to defeat Marko Rukavina of Croatia as well as Italy’s Luca Maresca.
The Iranian outfit had five medal winners on Saturday as Amir Mehdizadeh and Sajjad Ganjzadeh clinched gold medals, Zabihollha Pourshib, Aliasghar Asiabari and Hamideh Abbasali landed third in their respective weight divisions.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Alaleh Soudi, Fatemeh Chalaki, Rozita Alipour, Samira Malekipour, Saeid Ahmadi, Farir Haghighi, Mahsa Afsaneh conceded defeats against rivals failing to earn medals.
Today, as the last day of the international tournament, Iran’s Karate Male Team Kumite will face Japan in the final showdown.
From 25 October 2016 to 30 October 2016, the Karate World Championships, attended by 2000 athletes and coaches from 135 nations, took place in Tips Arena of the Austrian city of Linz.
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