Taekwondo heavyweight Competition 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018

18th  Asian Games Jakarta

Palembang 2018

Iran Win first taekwondo heavyweight gold

In

Asian Games 2018

Antara/Palembang/ Jakarta

Saeid Rajabi has become the first man to win the heavyweight gold in taekwondo for IR Iran at the Asian Games.

Rajabi’s shock victory on Tuesday over world No. 6 Dmitry Shokin of Uzbekistan was greeted as the greatest triumph for Iran in the sport by the “father of Iran taekwondo”, South Korean grandmaster Kang Shin-chul.

“I’m very pleased to see a product of the system I put in place many years ago win the gold medal in this heavyweight category. While I’m happy for [Rajabi], I’m also proud that he was coached by a pupil of mine. It shows that taekwondo has strong roots in Iran,” said Kang, the World Taekwondo Taedoo Union president and a legend in the sport.

Rajabi, who celebrated his 22nd birthday last week training for the men’s +80kg category, had to pull out all the stops to overcome Shokin, who finished fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympics and is 14 places above him in the world rankings.

“It was a very close match. At the end of the day, I think it was my belief and determination that pulled me through,” the elated Rajabi said. He marked his momentous 3-2 win with a somersault before embracing his coach, Askari Fariborz.

“I’m so happy that Saeid has been able to accomplish something which no one else from Iran has done, which is to win in the heaviest weight category. It was a very difficult match and I think he edged it simply because he had more desire in his heart and God helped him,” said Fariborz.

A kick to the body in the fourth round earned Rajabi 2 points, allowing him to come from behind and overhaul Shokin, who gained points from two penalties against his opponent.

Rajabi defeated Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Zhaparov 11-7in the semifinals, while Shokin took his final berth with a 5-4 victory over Jordan’s Hamza Kattan. Both semifinalists were awarded bronze medals.

In the women’s -57 kg weight class, China’s Luo Zongshi defeated South Korean Lee Ah-reum 6-5 to win the gold medal and Lee took silver, with the bronze medals going to defeated semifinalists Vipawan Siripornpermsak of Thailand and Pauline Lopez of the Philippines.

It was left to South Korea’s Lee Da-bin to salvage some glory for her country, which gave taekwondo to the world. She defeated Kazakhstan’s Cansel Deniz 27-21 in a free-flowing encounter in the women’s +67kg category to clinch the gold. China’s Gao Pan and Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Osipova won bronze medals.