Iran wushu artists win more medals in Asia championships

Iranian wushu artists have managed to clinch more medals, raising the country’s total medal count at the 8th edition of Asian Junior Wushu Championships in China.

On Sunday, young Iranian sportsman Armin Afraz Malekroudi put a commendable display of strength and skills in his march to final competition at the Xilin Gol Sports Center in China’s autonomous northern region of Inner Mongolia, and overcame his South Korean and Vietnamese opponents in the men’s 60-kg category of the Sanda section.

He defeated a representative from Afghanistan in the last contest, and collected the gold medal.

Yousef Sabri overpowered his Kazakh rival in the men's 70-kg class of the Sanda section, and was awarded the gold medal.

He had routed wushu practitioners from Turkmenistan and Vietnam to reach the final.

In the men’s 75-kg and 80-kg categories of the Sanda section, Adel Najafi and Morteza Raisi conceded defeat to their Chinese opponents respectively to win two silver medals apiece.

Maedeh Hashemi and Zahra Salahshour also lost out to representatives from the host nation in the final bouts of women’s 56-kg and 60-kn weight sections, and garnered two more silver medals for Iran.

The Iranian athletes could eventually land the Islamic Republic in the second position at the end of Sanda competitions with a total of seven medals, including two gold, four silver and one bronze.

The host nation claimed the first spot with eight gold medals, while Vietnam occupied the third place with one gold, three silver and as many bronze medals.

Sanda (sometimes called Sanshou or Lei tai) has all the combat aspects of wushu, but includes many more grappling techniques.

Meanwhile, the Iranian duelin Taolu team recorded convincing victories on Sunday, and received the silver medal with a total score of 9.30 points. It stood behind Brunei with 9.35 points and was followed by Hong Kong squad, which bagged 9.05 points.

Also, Nazanin Bazyar got 9.21 points to grab the silver in the Daoshu form of Taolu competitions. The Young Iranian female athlete trailed an Indonesian wushu fighter with 9.25 points. A competitor from Malaysia racked up 9.20 points to stand behind Bazyar.

Additionally, Taha Badiei pocketed 9.14 points to claim the bronze in the Jianshu form of Taolu competitions, and followed Indonesian and Japanese athletes with 9.30 and 6.29 points respectively.

Jianshu is a form of Taolu, where the participant uses a sword as the main element of the routine.

Fatemeh Asadi also settled for the bronze medal with 9.21 points in the Nanquan form. A wushu contestant from Indonesia was awarded the gold medal, and the silver went to a Malaysian competitor.

Nanquan usually requires less flexibility and has fewer acrobatics than Changquan, but it also requires greater leg stability and power generation through leg and hip coordination.

The 8th edition of Asian Junior Wushu Championships opened in Inner Mongolia, China, on August 6, and finished on August 9. The sporting event brought together wushu artists from 24 Asian countries.

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