TEHRAN – Sina Mohtarami claimed Iran’s fourth gold medal in the World Taekwondo Junior Championships on Thursday.

The men’s -55kg was the first of this year’s Championships which went to three rounds, and it was a captivating contest as both athletes were fully committed and scored highly.

 After a close start to the first round, Mohtarami pulled clear of his opponent to ultimately take it 18-7. However, Kazakhstan’s Nurali Makhmut showed great resilience in the second, and a late body kick to make it 11-9 was enough to force a decider.

The final round swung both ways, but it was Mohtarami who prevailed 14-12.

Haoran Tang of China and AIN’s Azat Besaev won two bronzes.

Iran’s Saghar Moradi in the women’s -63kg and Amirmohammad Nasirahmadi in the men’s -51kg claimed a silver and bronze medal respectively.

Moradi lost to Tunisia’s Masghouni Wafa in the final, while Nasirahmadi was defeated against eventual champion Greek Aristeidis Nikolaos Psarros in the semifinal.

On first day of the championships, Parnian Noori and Aynaz Nasiri had won two gold medal in the women’s -52kg women’s -59kg, respectively.

Amirmohammad Ashrafi also claimed a gold on the second day in the men’s +78kg weight division.