TEHRAN-Iranian reciter Alireza Bijani-Avval came in second at the recitation category of Malaysia's 63rd International Quran Competition, which was held in the country’s capital city Kuala Lumpur, from August 19 to 24.

He delivered an impressive performance on Tuesday night, reciting some verses from Surah Al-A'raf and captivating the crowd at the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Centre with his melodious voice and flawless recitation, ISNA reported on Thursday.

A total of 76 representatives from 52 countries competed in two categories of Quran recitation and memorization. In the recitation category, 24 men and 12 women competed, and there were 27 men and 13 women participating in the memorization category. 

In the recitation category Malaysian ‘qari’ (male reciter) Muhammad Qayyim Nizar Sarimi emerged as the champion and Awang Mohd Zul-Hafiz Awang Tengah from Brunei came in third.

In the ‘qariah’ (female reciter) category, participants from Morocco, Indonesia and the Philippines finished first to third respectively.

In the men’s memorization category, reciters from Guinea, Yemen and Chad gained the top three places. And women from Algeria, Senegal and Mauritania were the winners in the female memorization category.

Alireza Bijani-Avval, 29, has so far come in first in national and international Quran competitions including Bangladesh Quran Recitation Competition.

According to the statistics, during the past 62 editions of the Quran competition in Malaysia, 11 reciters from Iran have won the first title, making Iran the second country with the most titles just after the host Malaysia.

SS/