News / Sports

Iran’s Kazemi pockets gold in Fajr taekwondo tournament

Sunday, 08 May 2016 12:07 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 08 May 2016 12:05 PM ]

Iranian taekwondo practitioner Mohammad Kazemi stands on the top podium following his championship in the minus 58-kilogram weight division of the 27th edition of Fajr Open in Tehran, Iran, May 7, 2016.

Iranian taekwondo practitioner Mohammad Kazemi has pocketed a gold medal in the 27th edition of Fajr Open in Tehran.

On Saturday, Kazemi took part in the men’s G-1 minus 58-kilogram weight division, and claimed the top position after downing Afghan contestant Vahid Alemi 3-1 in the final encounter of the section held at Tehran’s Taekwondo House.

Yousif Ben Shariha from Libya and Iran’s Hadi Tiranvalipour shared the bronze.

Kazemi Iranian athlete, who received a bye in the preliminary round, had overpowered his compatriot Mehdi Eshaqi 5-1 in his first competition at the quarterfinals.

Kazemi later downed Hadi Tiranvalipour, another taekwondo fighter from the host country, in his semi-final contest and booked the ticket for the final.

In the minus 80-kilogram weight class, Russian taekwondo practitioner Arutiun Meliksetiants overcame Iranian contestant Amir Hossein Sasan 14-10 in the final fight, and was crowned champion.

Iran’s Vahid Isabiglo and Pourian Erfanian jointly settled for the bronze.

The 27th edition of the international Fajr Open taekwondo tournament opened in Tehran, Iran on May 7, and will run through May 8.

Apart from practitioners from Iran, the G-1 tournament has attracted athletes from Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, India, Iraq, Libya, Russia and Turkey.

Gold medalists will add 10 points to their qualification rankings for the 32nd edition of the Olympic Games scheduled to be staged between August 5 and August 21 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, with 789 athletes due to participate in the sporting event.

Silver and bronze medalists at the Tehran taekwondo tournament will also add 6 and 3.6 points respectively to their 2016 Summer Olympics qualification rankings.

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