Iranian taekwondokas took first place in the international taekwondo competition held in The Netherlands on March 29-30, IRNA reported.

By bagging three gold and one bronze medals, the Iranian team stood first in the competition followed by the Dutch and Spanish teams, respectively.

Ali Tajik, Hadi Sa'i, and Yusef Karami received gold medals for the Iranian team while Morteza Rostami bagged the bronze medal in the competition.

Mohammad Bibak, one of Iran's and the world's best taekwondo players who was to compete with the Israeli contestant in the first round, refrained from competing in protest at the Zionist regime's oppression of the Palestinian nation and, therefore, had to be eliminated from the contest.

Some 1,100 taekwondo players from 49 world countries took part in the event.

The Iranian team was made up of the same taekwondo players who competed in the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.

... Payvand News - 3/31/03 ... --