Two weeks after the end of Asian Games of Jakarta where Iran took two gold, three silver and three bronze medals in karate, national karatekas won three medals at Karate 1 Premier League in Berlin on Sunday.
According to IRNA, Iranians Sajjad Ganjzadeh, Amir Mahdizadeh and Zabihollah Pourshab won the three medals.
In the heaviest weight category, +84kg, Ganjzadeh won the only gold.
He started his campaign with a 3-2 victory over Brian Irr of the US and continued with a 6-4 win against Alparsalan Yamanoglu of Turkey. The Iranian kept on his edgy custom of winning in a 4-3 win over Kosovar Herolind Nishevci and with the same result beat Croat Andjelo Kvesic in the semifinal to get the berth for the final showdown.
In the finals, thrice K1 gold winner Ganjzadeh defeated two-time K1 gold winner Gogita Arkania of Georgia 4-1 to grab gold.
His gold will find its place next to the gold medal of Asian Games of Jakarta.
In a lighter weight class, Zabihollah Pourshab won bronze in -84kg division. In a flawless victory he defeated Russian Ilya Granovesov 4-0 and beat Argentine Miguel Amargos 2-0 in the second battle.
Pourshab then overpowered French Kenji Grillon 5-0 and his compatriot Mehdi Khodabakhshi 4-3.
But in the semifinal Pourshab lost to Kazakh Daniyar Yuldashaev 4-0. In the repechage game, he edged Turkish Ugur Aktas 2-1 and took bronze.
Pourshab had won bronze in the Asian Games.
Amir Mahdizadeh, as the lightest member of Iran team, won bronze in the -60kg category. During the Asian Games he took silver. Initiated in 2011, the Karate1 Premier League is the most important league event in the world of karate. It comprises some of the most prominent karate competitions and endeavors to bring together the best karate athletes in the world in an open championship. The German capital hosted the event from September 14-16.
