Iran’s Mehdizadeh takes gold at Karate 1-Premier League
TEHRAN – Amir Mehdizadeh from Iran claimed a gold medal at the fifth stage of Karate 1-Premier League on Sunday.
In the Male Kumite -60 Kg, Mehdizadeh defeated Oleg Melekhin from Belarus and Russia’s Stepan Efimenko 4-0 in his first two matches.
He also beat Nenad Dulovic from Montenegro 2-1 and advanced to the semi-final.
Mehdizadeh defeated Angelo Crescenzo 1-0 and qualified for the final match. The Iranian representative defeated Turkey’s Eray Samdan 3-1 in the final and won the gold medal.
Earlier on the day, Taravat Khaksar won the bronze medal after defeating Poland’s Dorota Banaszczyk at Female Kumite -55 Kg.
She started the competition with a 4-0 win over Italian Federica Riccardi and then beat Turkey’s Tuba Yakan 3-1in her second match.
Taravat defeated Sabina Zakharova from Kazakhstan 1-0 but failed to advance to the final after being defeated by Chinese Taipei Tzu-Yun Wen 3-1.
In the Male Kumite -67kg, Amir Reza Mirzaei defeated Italian Gianluca De vivo 5-0 but lost to Japanese Hiroto Gomyo 5-4 in his second match.
Mirzaei earned his first win over Belgium’s Jess Rosiello in repechage.
In his second and third repechages, Mirzaei defeated Turkey’s Omer Kemaloglu 2-0 and Uzbekistan’s Ikboljon Uzakov 3-0.
He also defeated Azerbaijan’s Tural Aghalarzadeh in the bronze medal match.
Zabihollah Poorshab earned Iran’s third bronze medal in the fifth stage of Karate 1-Premier League.
In the Male Kumite -84 Kg, Poorshab defeated Anton Isakau from Belarus 3-1 and then defeated Daniyar Yuldashev from Kazakhstan 4-3 in his second match.
Poorshab beat Panah Abdullayev from Azerbaijan 5-4 but failed to qualify for the final match after losing to Macedonian Berat Jakupi.
Poorshab defeated Turkey’s Ugur Aktas in the bronze medal match.
The fifth stage of Karate 1-Premier League started in Istanbul, Turkey on Friday and concluded on Sunday.
Paris, Rotterdam, Dubai and Rabat have all hosted Karate 1-Premier League events so far this season.