Tayebi wins shot put gold as Iran takes three more silvers at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

Mohammadreza Tayebi won Iran’s seventh gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with victory in the men’s shot put, while Zahra Zarei and Iran’s men’s and women’s kabaddi teams added three silver medals.

Tayebi produced a winning throw of 20.81 metres in the men’s shot put on Saturday to claim gold and set a new Asian Games record. The result added another title to the Iranian athlete’s résumé after his Asian championship victory.

India’s Tajindirpal Toor and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Tolu ranked next with 20.64 and 20.68 respectively.

Tayebi’s gold was followed by silver for Zahra Zarei in the women’s 400 metres. Zarei clocked 52.38 seconds in the final after advancing as the fastest runner in her preliminary heat in 52.00. Qatar’s Salwa Naser won the gold with 49.20.

Iran takes silver in both kabaddi finals

Iran’s men and women both finished runners-up to India in the kabaddi finals, completing a silver-medal double at the Tokai Citizens Gymnasium.

The men’s team led 18-17 at halftime and remained level with India at 21-21 early in the second half before India pulled away in the closing stages to win 40-34.

Iran captain Fazel Atrachali pointed to India’s greater match experience as an important factor in the outcome.

“Indian players have more experience and perhaps play around 100 matches in a year,” Atrachali said, adding that such experience becomes particularly important in close games and pressure situations.

The women’s final was similarly tight. India led 22-16 at halftime, but Iran fought back in the second half before India secured a 37-34 victory.

Captain Zahra Karimi said the narrow margin showed how close Iran had been to victory.

“It was a very sensitive game and we lost by a very small margin,” Karimi said. “We really could have won.”

Kabaddi is being contested at the Asian Games for the ninth consecutive edition, with the men’s competition part of the programme since 1990 and the women’s event since 2010. Both Indian teams entered the finals as defending champions from Hangzhou 2022.

Iran now ranks 7th in the medals table with a haul of seven gold, 14 silver, and seven bronze medals.

The Aichi-Nagoya Games are being held from September 19 to October 4 across venues in Japan, with around 17,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries and regions competing in 43 sports.

Iran's delegation, named “Minab Angels”—a tribute to the victims of the US-Israeli attack on Shajareh Tayyebe Elementary School in Minab on February 28—is competing at the Games with 305 athletes across 38 sports.

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