TEHRAN – Iran have claimed four gold medals at the 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester, England.
Maryam Abdollahpour won a gold medal in the K44 Women -47kg, defeating Peru’s Leonor Angelica Espinoza 15-5 in the final. The bronze medal went to Mexican Claudia Romero.
Mahdi Pourrahnama beat Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Alikulov 17-10 in the K44 Men -70kg to win the second gold. Azerbaijan’s Imamaddin Khalilov seized the bronze.
Alireza Bakht beat Korea’s Jeonghun Joo 29-18 in the K44 Men -80kg. Uzbekistan’s Asadbek Toshtemirov claimed the bronze medal.
Hamed Haghshenas won Iran’s fourth gold medal in the K44 Men +80kg, defeating Ivan Mikulic of Croatia 17-2. Turkey’s Mehmet Sami Sarac grabbed the bronze.
A total of 128 taekwondo superstars from 38 countries in eight Olympic weight categories compete for the World Taekwondo Grand Prix champion’s title.
The Grand Prix Final is the highest-ranked event outside the World Championships and will offer athletes a chance to earn crucial points to maximize their rankings ahead of the first allocation of Olympic quotas. Those are set to be awarded in January 2024.