2015 world Taekwondo Championship

[_Navid_]

It seems like many of the women are quite young. The japanese who won gold in the same weightclass was only 19-20 years old.

Yes, she was 21. But Kimia is the youngest ever Girl to win a medal in world champs!

[ali alipour]

And Khodabakhshi won the 3rd gold in STYLE. We have a good shot for getting minimum 2 golds in Rio Olympics.

How many golds do you think is possible for 2016? I think they can double up and get 8-9 which would be good for a top ten finish

[Abtin]

How are we looking on the number of participants for the 2016 Olympics?

[Ab-Gosht]

How many golds do you think is possible for 2016? I think they can double up and get 8-9 which would be good for a top ten finish

8-9 gold? wow dude very unlikely. Sure 9 athletes will have chance to win but still unlikely that all of them will win gold

[_Navid_]

How many golds do you think is possible for 2016? I think they can double up and get 8-9 which would be good for a top ten finish

Based on current form of our athletes I would say 6 or 7 golds is in reach, which would be really good. But things usually change by the time we get to Olympics. We always have injuries, unfair referees, drawing with Israel and so on!

[_Navid_]

How are we looking on the number of participants for the 2016 Olympics?

Ashurzadeh and Khodabakhshi have added 120 points and they were already on top of the ranking so their Olympics qualification is guaranteed. The other two aren't in a bad position either.

[ali alipour]

8-9 gold? wow dude very unlikely. Sure 9 athletes will have chance to win but still unlikely that all of them will win gold

We got 4 last year even though one wrestler was robbed of a gold I think his name was ghassemi or something. We also didn't perform as well as usual in weightlifting and didn't get any golds in taekwondo. So if they can perform as well as with a little more luck or a little better than 2012 in wrestling, weight lighting, taekwondo, and haddadi in discus, then I think 8-9 is possible.

[Ab-Gosht]

We got 4 last year even though one wrestler was robbed of a gold I think his name was ghassemi or something. We also didn't perform as well as usual in weightlifting and didn't get any golds in taekwondo. So if they can perform as well as with a little more luck or a little better than 2012 in wrestling, weight lighting, taekwondo, and haddadi in discus, then I think 8-9 is possible.

said abdevali?

Haddadi is in bad shape and has no coach. even salimi gold is not guaranteed. last time koshti farangi won 3 gold, very unlikely they can win 3 again. if they win 2 that will be huge...

[Irannn]

We got 4 last year even though one wrestler was robbed of a gold I think his name was ghassemi or something. We also didn't perform as well as usual in weightlifting and didn't get any golds in taekwondo. So if they can perform as well as with a little more luck or a little better than 2012 in wrestling, weight lighting, taekwondo, and haddadi in discus, then I think 8-9 is possible.

oh slow down . "as usual" ????? in London we had our best ever result in Weightlifting, it will be hard to repeat those results in Rio.

in London we had 14 wrestlling events, now they dropped two men's events to make it 12. means 2 less chances, it will be hard close to impossible to repeat that 3-gold medal results in Greco and in freestyle as I said before it will be REALLY hard to win even a single gold because of Russia. only in 2 or 3 weights the gold medal is still available. Haddadi had hard time to win the Asian Games last year, let him do something in world level before considering him a gold medal favorite.

but in Taekwondo, yes we have a better team for sure this time. I count on at least two gold medals in TKD,

I will write more in details as I follow all these sports closely , nothing is impossible . I think we have 14-15 gold medal chances but usually in Olympics you can win 1/3 of your medal chances, so realistically I expect 4 or 5 golds for Iran. but of course we have chance for more, much more.

even in London we lost so many gold medals because of bad luck, Rostami was just one easy lift away from the gold, Nasirshalal had gold medal in his pocket but lost it since he was happy with silver. Yazdani was a sure gold if it wasn't for his injury, Taghavi could win the gold if he didn't draw Cuba in first round he lost by ball draw, the same goes to Akhlaghi in Greco (yeah I hate Cuba, we always lose to Cuba in any sport !) Abdevali got robbed as everybody know, and we could have won two gold medals in Taekwondo if it wasn't for stupid decision of TKD federation of firing Mehmandoust before the Olympics and let's not forget, Haddadi lost the gold because of only 9cm, and he had the longest throw of the day, but it was a "no mark" as he narrowly touched the outside.

[_Navid_]

^ I agree with everything in your post.

I wish there was a proper forum for discussion of Iranian sports. PDFC is football only and 95% of members don't seem to care about other Iranian sports.

[Bessos]

^ I agree with everything in your post.

I wish there was a proper forum for discussion of Iranian sports. PDFC is football only and 95% of members don't seem to care about other Iranian sports.

Yes. I am quite interested about Iran's progress towards Rio2016. I mean statistics such as how many athletes we expect to bring this time, and how many medals we expect to get... it would be interesting to discuss.

[Irannn]

let me make a prediction about the number of our athletes in Rio, first I will start with sports we had representatives in London.

Swimming (1) ==> (1)
we had one swimmer via wild card in London, and I expect the same in Rio, we were/are terrible in this sport

Archery (2) ==> (1 or 2)
Compound is not an Olympic event and we suck in recurve, still we somehow luckily qualified two athletes in both 2008 and 2012. this is still possible this time. I expect at least one or maybe two, there is a slim chance to qualify for team event. we had a surprise few weeks ago when they used "Zahra Nemati" in a World Cup and she finished in top 16 which is a great result. Nemati is "2012 Paralympics Gold medalist" and she just shows she can compete with not-disabled athletes too.

Athletics (10) ==> (4 or 5)
we had 10 athletes in London but now it's close to impossible to repeat that number, Haddadi and Rajabi will qualify most probably and I expect 2-3 more. IAAF just announced new qualifying standards and it will be really hard for other athletes to qualify, still I expect one more in Marathon, probably one in Long Jump or sprint events. maybe even Hammer throw.

Boxing (4) ==> (3)
AIBA just changed the qualification format completely and it's a little hard for me to predict boxing results. we are almost in the same level as 2012 but it will be hard to qualify that number again, we already have one since Ehsan Rouzbahani qualified through AIBA Pro Boxing competition. I think ~2 more will qualify later from Asian qualifiers, probably Mehrabi and Golara, or maybe those veteran guys in 91 and +91.

Canoe Sprint (2) ==> (3)
we are in top 3-4 in Asia in almost all Canoeing events but the problem is only 1 boat will qualify from Asia. so our results will probably depend on Asian athletes results in World Championship, if top Asians qualify in World Champs, we can qualify from the Asian qualifiers, at the moment only one of our athletes Adel Mojallali is capable of qualifying directly from the World Championship. I expect him to qualify + K2 1000m team. there is also good chance for W K1 200, since top Asian athletes will probably qualify in Worlds.

Cycling (3) ==> (3)
as usual Iran will finish first in UCI Asia tour ranking to qualify 3 riders for Road Race event, we are a little better this time and now they are also trying to qualify in mountain bike events which is a little unlikely, they also gave up trying for Track cycling events.

Fencing (1) ==> (1)
I expect Mojtaba Abedini or another guy to qualify from the ranking. unfortunately men's sabre team event is not an Olympic event this time otherwise we could have a chance to qualify a complete sabre team, our sabre team improved a lot recently, Abedini even once advanced to quarterfinal in one of the world cups for the first time.

Judo (1) ==> (2)
our judo is in terrible situation and they just fired the coach today, because of the stupid qualification system we are assured of one quota at least. but if we want more our athletes have to climb the ranking, at the moment only two of them are capable of that, Mahjoub and Mollaei. Mollaei is our best Judoka at the moment, not that far from the direct qualification, he won a bronze in Asian Championship few days ago after losing only by golden score to Japan, he also beat Olympic Champion from korea in team event.

Rowing (2) ==> (2)
no improvement at all, but still because of the level in Asia, I expect them to qualify one male and one female, Iran's only hope in Rowing "Mohsen Shadi" just announced retirement ! so there is no hope for any good result at all. they only can qualify.

Shooting (3) ==> (4)
this one is really hard to predict, we had so many top 15 finish in previous world cup which means they all "can" qualify but nothing is guaranteed in this sport. we already missed few qualification chances but still I expect two girls to qualify in women's rifle events (which is our strongest event in shooting) and probably 1 or 2 more, in men's rifle, or shotgun events, or maybe air pistol events.

Table Tennis (2) ==> (1)
thanks to ITTF, there is one spot available for Central Asian countries and Iran dominate this tournament, Noshad Alamian or maybe his brother Nima will qualify, it will be hard to qualify another one, in London we also had a female competitor but it will be hard to repeat that again because of Kazakhstan, 2012 win over Kazakhstan was just a fluke.

Taekwondo (3) ==> (5)
in London we could not qualify more than 2 athletes per gender, but in Rio they changed it a little, but still for having more than 2 athletes per gender they all have to finish in top 6 of the world ranking, Ashourzadeh and Khodabakhshi will qualify for sure, Asbaghi's situation isn't that bad too, but Mardani is in real trouble to qualify, he needs some great results in remaining tournaments. for the girls , their only hope is the continental qualifiers, Iran can send two girls to that tournament which means we can qualify a total of 6 athletes, I expect 5. Ashourzadeh, Khodabakhshi, Asbaghi and probably Alizadeh and Khodabandeh for the girls team. still I hope Mardani also finishes in top 6, any quota in taekwondo is a potential medal.

Weightlifting (6) ==> (6)
for having maximum 6 weightlifters we have to finish in top 6 in 2014+2015 World Championship results, after 2014 we are 7th in ranking but surpassing Belarus and Egypt won't be that hard, if no surprise happens I expect a complete 6-man team.

Wrestling (13) ==> (12)
for London, we had 14 wrestling events and we only failed to qualify in 74kg Greco, this time they dropped two events and I expect us to qualify in all 12 events. we will be favorite for medal in all 12 events expect one, 130kg Greco.

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beside this , there are few more sports we didn't qualify in London but have a chance to be in Rio

Volleyball (12)
I highly doubt our volleyball team fails to qualify, they made the qualification system much easier this time and our team is also very stronger.

Basketball (12)
despite losing the Asian Games gold and the current situation inside the federation, we still have the best team in Asia, but they are not unbeatable anymore and there i s only one spot available for Asian Teams to grab.

we also have chance in Badminton, Beach Volleyball, Handball and maybe in football who knows

[Soosk]

You are very knowledgeable on all aspects of Iranian sports. I love reading your posts. It always has great information. Thank you very much.

let me make a prediction about the number of our athletes in Rio, first I will start with sports we had representatives in London.

Swimming (1) ==> (1)
we had one swimmer via wild card in London, and I expect the same in Rio, we were/are terrible in this sport

Archery (2) ==> (1 or 2)
Compound is not an Olympic event and we suck in recurve, still we somehow luckily qualified two athletes in both 2008 and 2012. this is still possible this time. I expect at least one or maybe two, there is a slim chance to qualify for team event. we had a surprise few weeks ago when they used "Zahra Nemati" in a World Cup and she finished in top 16 which is a great result. Nemati is "2012 Paralympics Gold medalist" and she just shows she can compete with not-disabled athletes too.

Athletics (10) ==> (4 or 5)
we had 10 athletes in London but now it's close to impossible to repeat that number, Haddadi and Rajabi will qualify most probably and I expect 2-3 more. IAAF just announced new qualifying standards and it will be really hard for other athletes to qualify, still I expect one more in Marathon, probably one in Long Jump or sprint events. maybe even Hammer throw.

Boxing (4) ==> (3)
AIBA just changed the qualification format completely and it's a little hard for me to predict boxing results. we are almost in the same level as 2012 but it will be hard to qualify that number again, we already have one since Ehsan Rouzbahani qualified through AIBA Pro Boxing competition. I think ~2 more will qualify later from Asian qualifiers, probably Mehrabi and Golara, or maybe those veteran guys in 91 and +91.

Canoe Sprint (2) ==> (3)
we are in top 3-4 in Asia in almost all Canoeing events but the problem is only 1 boat will qualify from Asia. so our results will probably depend on Asian athletes results in World Championship, if top Asians qualify in World Champs, we can qualify from the Asian qualifiers, at the moment only one of our athletes Adel Mojallali is capable of qualifying directly from the World Championship. I expect him to qualify + K2 1000m team. there is also good chance for W K1 200, since top Asian athletes will probably qualify in Worlds.

Cycling (3) ==> (3)
as usual Iran will finish first in UCI Asia tour ranking to qualify 3 riders for Road Race event, we are a little better this time and now they are also trying to qualify in mountain bike events which is a little unlikely, they also gave up trying for Track cycling events.

Fencing (1) ==> (1)
I expect Mojtaba Abedini or another guy to qualify from the ranking. unfortunately men's sabre team event is not an Olympic event this time otherwise we could have a chance to qualify a complete sabre team, our sabre team improved a lot recently, Abedini even once advanced to quarterfinal in one of the world cups for the first time.

Judo (1) ==> (2)
our judo is in terrible situation and they just fired the coach today, because of the stupid qualification system we are assured of one quota at least. but if we want more our athletes have to climb the ranking, at the moment only two of them are capable of that, Mahjoub and Mollaei. Mollaei is our best Judoka at the moment, not that far from the direct qualification, he won a bronze in Asian Championship few days ago after losing only by golden score to Japan, he also beat Olympic Champion from korea in team event.

Rowing (2) ==> (2)
no improvement at all, but still because of the level in Asia, I expect them to qualify one male and one female, Iran's only hope in Rowing "Mohsen Shadi" just announced retirement ! so there is no hope for any good result at all. they only can qualify.

Shooting (3) ==> (4)
this one is really hard to predict, we had so many top 15 finish in previous world cup which means they all "can" qualify but nothing is guaranteed in this sport. we already missed few qualification chances but still I expect two girls to qualify in women's rifle events (which is our strongest event in shooting) and probably 1 or 2 more, in men's rifle, or shotgun events, or maybe air pistol events.

Table Tennis (2) ==> (1)
thanks to ITTF, there is one spot available for Central Asian countries and Iran dominate this tournament, Noshad Alamian or maybe his brother Nima will qualify, it will be hard to qualify another one, in London we also had a female competitor but it will be hard to repeat that again because of Kazakhstan, 2012 win over Kazakhstan was just a fluke.

Taekwondo (3) ==> (5)
in London we could not qualify more than 2 athletes per gender, but in Rio they changed it a little, but still for having more than 2 athletes per gender they all have to finish in top 6 of the world ranking, Ashourzadeh and Khodabakhshi will qualify for sure, Asbaghi's situation isn't that bad too, but Mardani is in real trouble to qualify, he needs some great results in remaining tournaments. for the girls , their only hope is the continental qualifiers, Iran can send two girls to that tournament which means we can qualify a total of 6 athletes, I expect 5. Ashourzadeh, Khodabakhshi, Asbaghi and probably Alizadeh and Khodabandeh for the girls team. still I hope Mardani also finishes in top 6, any quota in taekwondo is a potential medal.

Weightlifting (6) ==> (6)
for having maximum 6 weightlifters we have to finish in top 6 in 2014+2015 World Championship results, after 2014 we are 7th in ranking but surpassing Belarus and Egypt won't be that hard, if no surprise happens I expect a complete 6-man team.

Wrestling (13) ==> (12)
for London, we had 14 wrestling events and we only failed to qualify in 74kg Greco, this time they dropped two events and I expect us to qualify in all 12 events. we will be favorite for medal in all 12 events expect one, 130kg Greco.

-------------
beside this , there are few more sports we didn't qualify in London but have a chance to be in Rio

Volleyball (12)
I highly doubt our volleyball team fails to qualify, they made the qualification system much easier this time and our team is also very stronger.

Basketball (12)
despite losing the Asian Games gold and the current situation inside the federation, we still have the best team in Asia, but they are not unbeatable anymore and there i s only one spot available for Asian Teams to grab.

we also have chance in Badminton, Beach Volleyball, Handball and maybe in football who knows

[Abtin]

^ The qualification tournament for basketball is in China from September 23rd to October 3rd. They will have to win that in order to qualify directly.

[_Navid_]

let me make a prediction about the number of our athletes in Rio, first I will start with sports we had representatives in London........

Great post. Nice to see other Iranians who follow our progress in every sport!