Iran taekwondo fighter snatches gold in international games
Iranian taekwondo practitioner Sajjad Mardani has impressed the crowd at the 2015 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Grand Prix Final in Mexico, and snatched the gold medal at the high-status sporting event.
On Sunday, the 27-year-old Iranian athlete bagged the gold medal in the seniors male over 80-kilogram weight division after triumphing over France’s M'Bar N'Diaye 2-0 in the final contest of the category held at the Sala de Armas Gymnasium in Mexico City.
The young Iranian sportsman overpowered Azerbaijani opponent Radik Isaev 1-0 in his first competition, before downing Jasur Baykuziyev 2-1 in the semi-final, and booked the ticket for the final.
The achievements came a day after Farzan Ashourzadeh Fallah earned the silver medal for the Islamic Republic of Iran in the seniors male minus 58-kilogram weight class after he conceded defeat to Kim Tae-hun, a contestant from South Korea, 2-3 in the final.
Also on Saturday, Masoud Hajizavareh managed to defeat Russian taekwondo athlete Albert Gaun 5-4 in his final challenge, and grabbed the bronze for Iran.
The 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final started in Mexico’s capital city of Mexico City on December 5, and finished the next day. The tournament brought together dozens of male and female taekwondo practitioners from a number of countries, including Britain, China, France, Iran, Moldova, Thailand and Turkey.
Gold medalists added 80 points to their qualification rankings for the 32nd edition of Olympic Games scheduled to be staged between August 5 and August 21 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, with 789 athletes participating in the sporting event.
Silver and bronze medalists in the Mexico taekwondo tournament also added 48 and 28.8 points respectively to their 2016 Summer Olympics qualification tallies.
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