Iran’s Boys’ Team Wins the Inaugural U-21 World Taekwondo Championships

According to Khabaronline, an Iranian news agency, The inaugural edition of the tournament, featuring 452 athletes from 75 countries, began on Wednesday, 12 Azar, in Nairobi, Kenya, and concluded on Saturday with the final contests in the men’s −68 kg and −78 kg divisions and the women’s −46 kg and −62 kg divisions. On the final day, Iran was represented by Matin Rezaei, Mohammad Alizadeh, and Saina Karimi, with Alizadeh and Rezaei earning silver and bronze medals respectively.

Under the leadership of Majid Aflaki, Iran’s boys’ team secured the overall title with three gold medals (Abolfazl Zandi, Radin Zeinali, and Amirreza Gholami), one silver (Mohammad Alizadeh), and two bronze (Matin Rezaei and Amir Mohammad Ashrafi). Turkey finished second with two golds and one silver, followed by Kazakhstan with two golds and one bronze. Egypt, Bulgaria, and India took the next positions.

Iran’s six-member girls’ team, coached by Mahrouz Saei, concluded the event with one gold (Mobina Ne’matzadeh) and one bronze (Hasti Mohammadi), placing fourth. Turkey, South Korea, and Morocco ranked above Iran in the girls’ standings.

At the end of the competition, Majid Aflaki was named Best Coach, and Abolfazl Zandi was honored as the tournament’s Best Technician.

Although team rankings in boys’ and girls’ divisions are calculated separately—with each top team receiving a championship trophy—the combined standings published by World Taekwondo placed Iran first overall across both men’s and women’s results. Turkey and South Korea followed in second and third place, respectively.