He scored 88 out of 100 and came first, Seyyed Ibrahim Husseini Bakhsh, director of the network, told IQNA.
 
The runner-up was Ala’uddin Hamza (87) from Egypt, while Ahmad Hussein Mehrzad (85) from Afghanistan won the third rank, he said.

Yunis Abdul Qadir from Germany and Ali Javad Hussein from Iraq came fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
The semi-final stage of this edition of the competition titled "Inna lil-Muttaqina Mafaza” (Indeed, for the righteous is attainment- Holy Quran, 78:31), concluded on July 15.
 
Out of the 24 participants in the semi-final stage, 8 Qaris were from Iran, 4 from Egypt, 3 from Iraq, and 4 from Afghanistan. Morocco, Britain, Germany, Lebanon and Tajikistan each had one representative in the competition, Husseini Bakhsh said.
 
He added that the semi-final stage continued for five days (from the 25th to the 29th of the holy month of Ramadan).
 
The members of the judging board of the final stage were the same experts who supervised the semi-final stage.
 
Abdul Rasul Abayi from Iran, Muhammad Arif Al-Asali from Syria, Kareem Yasir from Iraq and Sheikh Muhammad Ali Jabin from Egypt were respectively the judges of the competition in Waqf and Ibtida, Lahn, Tajweed, and Sowt.
 
The first winner will be awarded $5000, and the second to the fifth rank winners will receive $4000, $3000, $2000 and $1000 respectively.
 
The preliminary stage of Al-Kawthar international Quran recitation competition included four rounds. 24 top participants competed in the semi-final stage and 5 finalists made it to the last round.
 
The eight edition of the competition was held from the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan with the participation of 98 Quran reciters from 33 countries.