Iranians collect 10 Karate 1 PL medals, top men’s kumite table
A total of six medals – including one gold – saw Iran claim the top spot in the men’s kumite competitions at the Karate 1 Premier League in Dubai, the UAE.
On Sunday, Bahman Asgari, representing Iran in the men’s kumite -75kg contests, overcame Italian Luigi Busa 2-0 in the final bout to grab the gold.
Rafael Aghayev of Azerbaijan – having been beaten by Asgari in the semis and American Thomas Scott shared the third place of the weight class.
Elsewhere in the competitions, Ali Fadakar suffered a 2-1 defeat against Ugur Aktas of Turkey in the final and settled for a men’s kumite -84kg silver.
Fadakar’s compatriot Zabiollah Poursheib – who was also beaten by Aktas in the semifinals – overcame Turgut Hasanov of Azerbaijan and won the joint-bronze along with Farouq Abdesselem of France.
Amir-reza Mirzaei and Hamoun Derafshifar – both taking part in the men’s kumite -67kg bouts – and Sajjad Ganjzadeh (+84kg) added three more bronze medals to Iran’s overall tally.
Iran was followed by France and Kazakhstan in the standings, as each won three medals to share the second spot.
In an all-iranian third-place battle in the men’s team kata, the three-man team of Abolfazl Sharjerdi, Milad Delikhoun and Ali Zand outpointed Soheil Sajedifar, Amir-bahador Tadayon and Amir-yazdan Tadayon with a 23.92-23.8 scoreline.
In the women’s team kata, Iran’s team – comprising Mahsa Afsaneh, Parisa Rahmani and Ma’edeh Nasiri – tallied 24.08 in the final against Italy’s 24.4 and took the bronze.
Fatemeh Chalaki (-55kg), Rozita Alipour (-61kg) outpointed opponents from Egypt and Turkey to add two bronzes to Iran’s account.
Some 700 karatekas from 86 countries took part in the second round of the Premier League on February 15-17.
The next round of the competitions will be held in the Moroccan capital of Rabat in midapril.