Iran won three more silvers, in addition to Saturday’s, in the karate contests of the 2018 Asian Games underway in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
On Sunday, the second day of the Games’ karate contests, Taravat Khaksar failed to notch up victory against a rival from Taiwan in the final showdown of the women’s -55kg to clinch silver, varzesh3.com wrote.
She had earlier outmuscled opponents from Afghanistan, Indonesia and China.
Karatekas from Indonesia and Macau claimed the third spot in this weight class.
Later in the day, Iran’s Amir Mehdizadeh was defeated by his Indonesian rival 7-9 in the men’s -60kg weight class to earn another silver for Iran.
varzesh3.com
En route to the final, he had outpowered opponents from the Philippines, Vietnam and Uzbekistan.
The representatives of Uzbekistan and Malaysia finished jointly in the third place of the weight class.
In the women’s -61kg weight division, Iran’s Rozita Alipour won the third silver of the day for the Iranian squad after losing in the final to a powerful Chinese rival.
varzesh3.com
Today, the last day of the Games’ karate competitions, Iran’s remaining representatives Pegah Zanganeh, Bahman Asgari and Zabihollah Poursheib take on their rivals.
On Saturday, Iran’s Sajjad Ganjzadeh won a gold medal after outpointing Vietnam’s Nguyen Minh Phung 5-2 in the men’s +84kg gold battle.
Before reaching the final showdown, the world gold medalist first powered past an opponent from Saudi Arabia (4-1) and then, in the semifinals, a Kyrgyz rival (2-1).
The Saudi Arabian and Kyrgyz karatekas jointly claimed the third place of the weight category.
In the previous edition of the Asian Games in South Korea, Ganjzadeh had failed to clinch a medal.
Earlier on the same day, Ganjzadeh’s compatriot Hamideh Abbas-Ali settled for a bronze medal after defeating a rival from Vietnam 3-0 in the third-place match of the women’s +68kg category.
Prior to the final match, the Iranian karateka had outscored an opponent from Uzbekistan. She, however, failed to pull off a victory in her bout against a Japanese rival in the semifinals and conceded a 1-2 defeat.
She had clinched gold in the previous edition of the Asian Games.
Iran’s squad in these competitions comprises eight karatekas of whom half are men.
Iran’s men squad consists of Mehdizadeh, Asgari, Poursheib and Ganjzadeh. The country’s women team comprises Khaksar, Rozita Alipour, Abbas-Ali and Zanganeh.
The 2018 Asian Games, officially known as the 18th Asian Games, is a pan-Asian multi-sport event which opened on August 18 and will continue until September 2 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang.
The athletes compete in 465 events across 40 sports and 67 disciplines in these competitions, also known as Jakarta Palembang 2018.
Source:Irandaily