[By NBC-1TV K, Y Yi]HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 12, 2018) - Iran today added a fourth gold medal to their haul, whilst Azerbaijan, USA and Chinese Taipei won their first golds in an exhilarating third day of action at the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Hammamet, Tunisia.

The gold medals were won by Anastasija Zolotic of USA in the junior women’s -52kg, HamedAsghariMahiabadi from Iran in the junior men’s -59kg, Chia-Ling Lo of Chinese Taipei in the junior women’s -55kg and JavadAghayev of Azerbaijanin the junior men’s -63kg.

Today’s results mean that the overall medal table is unchanged as Iran remains in the lead with four gold and two bronze medals overall. South Korea remain in second with two golds and two bronze medals and Russia sit in third with one silver and five bronze medals.

Juniors Women -52kg

The first final of the day saw Anastasija Zolotic of the United States of America and OzodaSobirjonova of Uzbekistan fight in the junior female -52kg. The first round exploded into action with Zolotic landing a front kick to the trunk within the first two seconds. However, Sobirjonova responded quickly by landing a front kick to the trunk and then to the head to put her 2-5 up. Zolotic made the scores level once more with an incredible reverse hook kick to the head. The American then began to stamp her authority by landing a series of kicks and ended the round 14-5 up. If possible the second round was even more exciting with both athletes landing a series of kicks on one another, many of which were to the head. But it was Zolotic who took a narrow 24-20 lead into the third round. Zolotic looked to secure the gold medal by landing an early front kick to the trunk. Sobirjonova fought back valiantly by first landing a front kick to the head and then forcing her opponent out of the boundaries on a number of occasions to make the score 27-26. Zolotic looked to have landed the killer blow with a kick to the trunk, but Sobirjonova responded seconds later by kicking her opponent in the trunk and then forcing Zolotic into conceding a gam-jeom. Subsequently, the fight was taken to a golden point round. Both athletes deserved to win the gold in what was probably the most exciting and closely contested final of the tournament so far. However, it was Zolotic who claimed the gold with an emphatic front kick to the head.

The bronze medals were won by Vanessa Beckstein of Germany and Gabriela Briskarova of Slovakia.

Juniors Men -59kg

The junior male -59 final was contested by HamedAsghariMahiabadi from Iran andArslanDemir of Turkey. Mahiabadi took an early 6-0 lead with a series of kicks to the trunk, but was then forced into conceding three gam-jeoms. However, Mahiabadi managed to close out the first round with the score at 9-5. In the second round Mahiabadi extended his lead emphatically by landing a punch and two kicks to the trunk of his opponent. In the third round, Demir tried to fight back courageously, but Mahiabadi was too strongdefensively. In the last 30 seconds, Mahiabadi made sure of his gold by landing a combination of kicks to the trunk and head. The fight ended 29-9, with Mahiabadi securing Iran’s fourth gold medal of the tournament. That gold meant Mahiabadi added to his gold he won at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing 2014.