TEHRAN – Iran finished in third place at the 19th edition of Asian Senior Karate Championships.

The Iranian karate athletes won 12 medals, including three gold, two silver and seven bronze medals.

Kazakhstan won the title with three gold, four silver and four bronze medals.

Japan finished in second place, winning three gold, three silver and two bronze medals.

Behnam Deghanzadeh at the Kumite Male -55kg, Atousa Golshadnezhad at the Kumite Female -61kg and Kumite Team Male won three gold medals for Iran.

Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh at the Kumite Male -75kg and Kumite Team Female claimed two silver medals.

Sara Bahmanyar at the Kumite Female -50kg, Fatemeh Saadati at the Kumite Female -55kg, Sajad Ganjzadeh at the Kumite Male +84kg, Amir Mehdizadeh at the Kumite Male -67 kg, Fatemeh Sadeghi at Kata Female, Abolfazl Shahrjerdi at Kata Male and Kata Team Male won seven bronze medals.

The tournament has brought about 400 athletes from 31 countries together in Melaka, Malaysia.

The last edition of the continental championships was held last year in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan and it gathered all Senior, Cadet, Junior, and U21 categories.

The event comprised 17 categories, in the senior competition, and seven categories in the Para-Karate event.