Iran receives two more karate medals in Paris tournament

Iranian karate practitioners collected two more medals at the 20th edition of the Open de Paris - Karate Premier League in France.

Iran’s total medal count at the international tournament rose to three on Sunday.

Iranian sportsman Saeed Ahmadi-Karyani showed a commendable display of vim and vigor in his march to the final competition of men’s kumite minus-67-kilogram category at the Pierre de Coubertin Stadium in Paris. He eventually emerged triumphant (5-0) in his last encounter against Marvin Garin, a representative from the host country, and scooped up the gold.

Ahmadi-Karyani, who got a bye in the first round, overwhelmed Georgia’s Irakli Tkebuchava (3-2), French opponent Rado Andrianolona (6-0), Austrian athlete Thomas Kaserer (2-0), Moroccan sportsman Abdelilah Boujdi (4-1) and Japanese contestant Hiroto Shinohara (3-0) respectively in the march to the final.

Earlier in the day, Zabihollah Poursheib overwhelmed his French, Ecuadorian, Italian, and Turkish competitors to advance to the final bout of the men’s kumite minus-84-kilogram class.

He conceded a 2-0 defeat to Japan’s Ryutaro Araga and earned the silver for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Also on Sunday, 25-year-old Iranian karate fighter Hamideh Abbasali won the bronze medal in women’s kumite over-68-kilogram section.

The 20th edition of the Open de Paris - Karate Premier League opened in the French capital on January 22, and finished on January 24.

The tournament reportedly brought together 1,012 male and female athletes from 75 countries, including Algeria, Austria, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Iran, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia and Ukraine.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Karate Federation dispatched an 8-strong sports delegation, comprising Zabihollah Poursheib, Sajjad Ganjzadeh, Saeed Ahmadi, Amir Mehdizadeh, Bahman Asgari, Hamideh Abbasali, Zohreh Barzegar and Fatemeh Sadeghi, to the event.

France topped the medal count table with a total of 16 (three golds, three silvers and ten bronzes). Japan stood second with six (three golds, two silvers and one bronze). Turkey snatched seven medals (two golds, one silver and four bronzes) to occupy the third spot.

Iran finished in the fifth place, having earned one gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

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