Iran collects four medals in Dubai karate tournament

Iranian male and female karate practitioners have demonstrated impressive performances at the fifth round of 2016 Karate 1-Premier League in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and received four medals.

On Sunday, Iranian female athletes Saeedeh Javeri, Maryam Karimi and Noushin Khalfiyan – members of Iran’s Sepahan team – took part in women’s team kata contests, and emerged triumphant against representatives from Egypt in the first encounter before conceding a 5-0 defeat against Malaysian counterparts in the next.

The Iran outfit then took on the Italian side in the third-place challenge, and pulled off a narrow 3-2 victory to take home the bronze medal.

In the men's team kata division, Iran’s Avaye Razm squad, comprising Rouzbeh Roshani, Soheil Sajedifar and Amir Bahador Tadayyon, outpowered Saudi rivals 5-0 in the first competition before prevailing over Qatari athletes 4-1.

The Iranian karate fighters, however, failed to surmount Malaysia and went down 2-3 in semi-final round. They snatched the bronze medal by trouncing Germans 4-1 in the battle for the third place.

Later on Sunday, Zabihollah Poursheib overwhelmed his Azeri, Australian and Algerian competitors (1-0, 8-0 and 2-1) in the march to the final bout of the men’s minus 84-kilogram weight category.

Poursheib conceded a 4-7 defeat against a representative from Egypt in the semi-finals, though, and had to settle for a bronze medal showdown. He defeated his Turkish rival 9-5 in the last competition and earned the bronze.

Additionally, Iranian sportsman Bahman Asgari routed his rivals as he progressed to the final competition of men’s minus 75-kilogram weight class, and settled for silver.

The fifth round of 2016 Karate 1-Premier League started in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on April 9 and finished the following day.

The international tournament brought together a total of 659 male and female karate practitioners from 59 countries, including Algeria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

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