TEHRAN – Iranian table tennis player Noshad Alamiyan won a historic bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games on Saturday.

Alamiyan claimed a bronze medal in the men’s single at the JIExpo Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He lost to Lin Gaoyuan from China 4-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-6, 11-2) in semifinals.

Iran had not won a medal in the category since 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, where Houshang Bozorgzadeh claimed a bronze medal.

“This is the second singles bronze medal for Iran in 52 years. I’m so happy; many plans have been put in place to enable my country to reach this stage. It is not by chance. I have trained hard to get here, to win a medal. It was my aim, this was my goal and now I’ve done it; this is the best result I have ever had.” Alamiyan said.

The 18th Asian Games stage 465 events out of 40 sports, among which 330 events from 32 sports will feature in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Games, attracting more than 10,000 athletes, will run through Sept. 2.