Iran finishes third in 2017 World Taekwondo Championships

Iran men's national taekwondo team has put in convincing performances at the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships in South Korea, and ranked third at the end of the high-status international event.

On Friday, the Iranian team stood on the third podium, having garnered 46 points.

The South Korean men's national taekwondo team finished first with 67 points, having snatched three gold and one bronze medals.

The South Korean squad was followed by the Russian outfit, which accumulated 62 points to be named the vice champion. Russians had bagged one gold, three silvers and one bronze medal.

Earlier in the day, young Iranian taekwondo fighter Mirhashem Hosseini demonstrated amazing displays of spinning kicks and fast kicking techniques in his march to the final showdown of men’s minus 63-kilogram weight category at T1 Arena in South Korea’s southwestern county of Muju.

He did his best to overcome Chinese taekwondo practitioner Zhao Shuai , who won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics men's 58-kilogram section, but fell short 5-11, and picked up the silver medal.

On June 25, Armin Hadipour was awarded the silver medal in the men’s minus 54-kilogram weight division.

Masoud Hajizavareh had to settle for the bronze medal of men’s minus 74-kilogram category after he could not show up for the last contest due to injuries he had sustained earlier in the tournament. 

Also on Friday, 18-year-old Iranian taekwondo practitioner and bronze medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Kimia Alizadeh Zenoozi, got the silver medal in the women’s minus 62-kilogram class.

The 2017 World Taekwondo Championships, which was the 23rd edition of the world taekwondo championships, opened in Muju, South Korea, on June 24 and ran through June 30.

A total of 973 athletes from 183 nations reportedly took part in the prestigious international tournament.

The Iranian men's national taekwondo team consisted of Armin Hadipour, Farzan Ashourzadeh, Mirhashem Hosseini, Abolfazl Yaghoubi, Masoud Hojjizavvareh, Pourya Erfanian, Saeid Rajabi, and Sajjad Mardani.

They were in action in the minus 54-kilogram, minus 58-kilogram, minus 63-kilogram, minus 68-kilogram, minus 74-kilogram, minus 80-kilogram, minus 87-kilogram and over 87-kilogram weight categories.

Nahid Kiani, Tayebeh Parsa, Kimia Alizadeh, Melika Pourhosseini, Zahra Pouresmaeil, and Akram Khodabandeh were the members of the Iranian women's national taekwondo team, who vied for top honors in the minus 49-kilogram, minus 57-kilogram, minus 62-kilogram, minus 67-kilogram, minus 73-kilogram and over 73-kilogram sections.

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