TEHRAN - Iran claimed top spot of World Taekwondo Junior Championships in the overall junior male medal table with an impressive seven golds and two bronze medals.

The record-breaking World Taekwondo Junior Championships drew to a close in Tunisia on Friday with Russia and Iran finishing top of the female and male medal table respectively.

Over the course of the Championships nearly 1,000 young athletes from 118 countries around the world took part, demonstrating the universality of taekwondo.

A total of 27 countries also won medals in the La Salle Couverte in Hammamet, demonstrating the sport’s extensive strength in depth.

The "MVP" awards were claimed by Iran’s Hossein Lotfi, winner of the gold medal in the junior male under-45kg category, and South Korea’s Mireu Kang, winner of the gold medal in the junior female under-42kg category.

Andrey Ananchenko of Russia and Vahid Abdollahi of Iran won ‘Best female Coach’ and ‘Best Male Coach’ respectively.
 

Hossein Lotfi won the gold medal in the men's -45kg class on the first day of the competition.

In the men's -51 kg, Amir Valipour triumphed as he beat Azerbaijan's Khanoghlan Karimov in the final.

Amir Sina Bakhitari won gold by beating Jose Luis Acuna of Argentina in the final match of the men's -55kg,

Hamed Asghari Mahiabadi, the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games gold medalist, extended the Iranian run of success with victory in the men’s +59 kilograms category. He defeated Turkey’s Arslan Demir 29-2 in the final.

Mahdi Mohammad Emadi overcame CJ Nickolas of the United States in impressive fashion as he earned an 18-10 victory in the men’s -68kg final.

The gold medal went to Iran as Eshkevarian beat Poland’s Adrian Wojtkowiak 26-6 in the men’s -73kgthe.

Mohammad Ali Khosravi claimed Iran’s seventh gold medal in the junior men -78kg category.

Nima Mehrali in men +78kg and Mobina Kalivand in the women's -42kg also claimed two bronze medals in the competition, respectively.

The next World Taekwondo Junior Championships are due to be held in Sofia in Bulgaria in 2020.