TEHRAN – Iranian karatekas will take to the tatami in both the boys and girls’ divisions in 23rd Asian Karate Championship, in Shaoguan, China on Friday.
The 23rd Asian Karate Championship in the age categories of teenagers, youths, and under-21 girls and boys in the two kata and kumite divisions will be held in and the Iranian team caravan named “Martyr Muhammad Hussein Esmaili” will set off for these competitions.
In these competitions, 516 athletes from 30 countries will compete with each other, with our national team having the highest number of athletes with 43 athletes in 38 categories, followed by China with 40 athletes, Chinese Taipei with 38 athletes, Kazakhstan with 36 athletes, and Saudi Arabia with 34 athletes. Bangladesh and Myanmar with one athlete, and Yemen and Brunei with two athletes, have the lowest number of registrations.
In the categories of these competitions, the weight categories of 52- and 57- for junior boys, as well as 67- and under-21 boys with 18 athletes, have the highest number of registrations, and the weight categories of 68+ for under-21 girls with 7 athletes, 84+ for under-21 boys with 8 athletes, and the team kata for juniors and juniors for girls with 7 teams have the lowest number of registrations.
In the previous edition of these competitions, which was held in the Philippines, Iranian athletes won 10 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 9 bronze medals and won the title of runner-up. They also won the championship title in the under-21 age group in this edition of the competitions.