Iran Sanda Team Wins World Wushu Championships

Iranian male and female wushu teams ranked first at the Sanda discipline at the 14th edition of World Wushu Championships in Russia.

For the first time, the Iranian squad managed to put an end to the dominance of the Chinese athletes in Sanda and grabbed top position at the tournament held in the western Russian city of Kazan, Mehr News Agency reported.

Wushu is composed of two disciplines: Taolu and Sanda. Sanda, Chinese boxing or Chinese kickboxing, is a Chinese self-defense system and combat sport.

China was the world champion in wushu during the past 13 rounds of the games. This is the first time that another team has succeeded to win the title in Sanda discipline.

The Iranian athletes snatched seven gold and one silver medals to finish in first place.

China (with seven gold medals) and Russia (with two gold, one silver and two bronze medals) were second and third respectively.

However, overall in the championships, including the medal count both in Sanda and Taolu disciplines, the Iranian national team ranked second behind China after bagging eight gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

In the women’s team, competing in -52 kg category, Elaheh Mansourian form Iran defeated her opponent from Vietnam and stood on top of the podium.

In the minus 70 kg category, Maryam Hashemi breezed past her Philippine rival and got the gold.

Zahra Kiani won 9.56 points and Haniyeh Rajabi got 9.45 points to stand in third place in the Taolu competitions.

Moreover, Shahrbanou Mansourian stood on top of the podium once she downed her Egyptian rival in the final contest of women’s minus 65 kg category of the Sanda discipline.

In the men’s section, Mohsen Mohammadseifi clinched the gold medal in the minus 70 kg class after he defeated an Egyptian.

More gold medals were earned by Yousef Sabri who beat a rival from Macau in the minus 75 kg class, Moein Taghavi who beat his Belarusian opponent in the final of minus 85 kg category and Milad Arefi Magham who overcame a representative from Egypt in the final match of minus 90 kg division.

Meanwhile, Hamidreza Gholipour failed to overcome a competitor from China in the final showdown of over 90 kg category and was awarded silver.

The 14th edition of World Wushu Championships which brought together approximately 860 competitors from 57 countries concluded on October 3.