Iran finishes third in 2015 Asian kata championships

Iran men’s national team has collected five medals, including one silver, at the fifth edition of the Asian Judo Kata Championships in Thailand to claim the third spot at the end of the continental competitions.

On Sunday, the Iranian pair of Mohammad Hassan Salari and Mohammad Reza Sahraei competed in the Kodokan Goshin Jutsu contests at the Nunthankan Building of Rangsit University in Bangkok, and grabbed a silver medal.

Japanese competitors were awarded the gold medal, and athletes from the host nation picked up the bronze.

Kodokan Goshin Jutsu is a set of prearranged self-defense forms in judo. It incorporates techniques from aikido through the influence of Kenji Tomiki, and is the most recent kata of judo, dating back to 1956.

The Iranian nage-no-kata outfit, comprising Fattollah Faridi-Vosouq and Hamid Reza Karimi-Naser, settled for the bronze medal. The Japanese team scooped the top honor, and South Koreans finished as the vice champion.

Nage-no-kata is an illustration of the various concepts of throwing techniques in judo, and is used both as a training method and as a demonstration of understanding.

Iranian judo practitioners Seyyed Sina Mousavi and Mehdi Mohammadi snatched the bronze for the Islamic Republic in the ju-no-kata. They stood behind representatives from Japan and Thailand, who bagged the gold and silver medals respectively.

Kime-no-kata judokas Ali Hossein Mirzaei and Farzad Nateghpour collected another bronze medal for Iran on Sunday. The Japanese and South Koreans came first and second respectively.

Kime-no-kata is composed of 8 techniques from a kneeling posture, and 12 techniques from a standing position. Both sets of techniques contain defenses for both armed and empty-handed attacks.

Moreover, Mohammad Ali Vahid and Reza Safi earned a bronze medal for Iran in the kata-mono-kata. Japanese and South Koreans judokas won the gold and silver medals in this category.

The 5th edition of Asian Judo Kata Championships started in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 16, and finished on December 21, 2015.

The Japanese team won five golds to stand first. South Korea stood second with three silver medals followed by Iran, which ranked third with one silver and four bronze medals.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk