Iran grabs two medals at first World Cup Taekwondo Championships
Iran added a silver medal to its pocket on Friday when Alireza Nasr-e Azadani lost the final battle of the Under-72 category to the home fighter Patiwat Thongsalap.
In the men’s middleweight event on Thursday, spirited Italian Mauro Sarmiento, restricted by the right-knee injury caused during a tough battle against France’s John Trouillet in the semi-finals earlier, poured everything to match the might of Iranian Mehdi Bibak.
However, the experienced Sarmiento, gold winner at the last year’s World University Taekwondo Championships in Valencia and silver medalist at the World University Games in Izmir, could not go that far. He lost a one-sided 3-0 match to the Iranian.
The bronze medal went to Netherlander Patrick Stevens and French Trouillet.
The championships kicked off at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, with more than 2,500 spectators watching the opening ceremony inside the competing venue.
After the ceremony, the host nation impressed the participating exponents and all visitors with a splendid dance which portrayed the beauty of Thai cultures. A taekwondo demonstration by Korean exponents also thrilled the spectators with their awesome form.
One of the formidable giants to topple in these championships is Thailand's Rapatkorn, a 19-year-old from Nakhon Pathom province, who has a remarkable run in her career. She stunned the Athens Olympic gold medalist Luo Wai from China to clinch the women’s heavyweight gold in the Asian Championships last April.
Meanwhile, Norway’s Nina Solheim captured the championships’ first gold after surviving a sturdy challenge from Sun Young Jung to narrowly beat the Korean opponent 2-1.
It was a bitter loss for Sun, who won the bronze medal at both the last year’s World Championships in Spain and the World University Games in Izmir.
German Volker Wodzich and France’s Michael Borot took home the consolation bronze medal.