Iran’s Bagheri Motamed wins silver in Olympics taekwondo

LONDON,Aug.11(MNA) – Iran’s Mohammad Bagheri Motamed claimed the Olympic taekwondo silver medal in the men's 68kg division on Thursday. Bagheri Motamed was defeated by Servet Tazegul of Turkey 5-4 at the Excel Center in London. The Iranian beat David Boui of the Central African Republic 7-2 in the preliminary round. He defeated Rohullah Nikpah of Afghanistan 5-4 in the quarterfinals. The 26-year-old beat Brazil's Diogo Silva by superiority. “The Iranian people have to forgive me since I could not win the gold. The Turk has defeated me during the previous matches. I must train more to beat him,” Bagheri Motamed said. The first bronze was claimed by USA's Terrence Jennings, who made a comeback from the repechage and defeated Brazilian Diogo Silva 8-5. Nikpah beat Britain's Martin Stamper 5-3 to add another bronze to his collection after winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Games.