News / Sports

Iran team ranks 2nd in WTF taekwondo world cup

Thursday, 10 December 2015 2:28 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 10 December 2015 3:06 PM ]

The men’s national taekwondo teams of the Islamic Republic of Iran (in blue), Azerbaijan (in blue), South Korea (in red) and Russia (in white) pose for a group photograph at the end of the 2015 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships in Mexico on December 9, 2015.

Iran men’s national taekwondo team has ended its campaign at the 2015 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships in Mexico, and finished as the vice-champion in the international sporting event.

On Wednesday, the Iranian side suffered a bitter loss to the Azerbaijani squad in the final competitions of the tournament fought at the Sala de Armas Gymnasium in Mexico City.

The Azeri taekwondo practitioners started their contests in energetic fashion and bolted out to an 8-6 first-round lead over Iran.

The Azerbaijani outfit continued to chip away in the second round and was off to a 29-12 lead.

The Iranian sportsmen tried to close the gap in the final round, but ultimately fell just short, and Azerbaijan outscored to come away with a 42-23 victory. South Korea and Russia shared the bronze podium.

Meanwhile, Chinese female taekwondo fighters claimed the world title, and were followed by the hosts. South Korea and Chinese Taipei finished in the third place.

The 2015 WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships began in Mexico on December 8 and ended on December 9.

Iran men’s national taekwondo team was comprised of Armin Hadipour, Mohammad Kazemi, Abolfazl Yaqoubi, Masoud Hajizavareh, Saeed Rajabi and Omid Amidi.

The Iranian outfit is under the tutelage of Bijan Moghanloo as head coach, and Mehdi Bibak and Mehrdad Yousefi coach the Iranian taekwondo practitioners.

On December 6, Sajjad Mardani triumphed over France’s M’Bar N’Diaye 2-0 in the final contest of the seniors’ male over 80-kilogram weight division at the 2015 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Grand Prix Final in Mexico, and snatched the gold medal.

The achievements came a day after Farzan Ashourzadeh Fallah conceded a 2-3 defeat to Kim Tae-hun, a contestant from South Korea, in the final of the seniors’ male minus 58-kilogram weight class, and earned the silver medal for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Masoud Hajizavareh also prevailed over Russian taekwondo athlete Albert Gaun 5-4 in his final challenge, and scooped up the bronze for Iran.

The 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final started in Mexico City on December 5, and concluded the next day.

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