By Rumaiza Norova, OCA Youth Reporter from Tajikistan
Nagoya, Japan, September 25, 2026: One final became two, then three, then four. By the time six gold-medal bouts had been completed at Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall on Thursday, every champion had come from the same team: China.
China won six of the seven Sanda titles decided on the final day of Wushu competition at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games, taking both women’s gold medals and four of the five men’s titles. Iran’s Soheil Mousavi prevented a Chinese clean sweep by winning the men’s 75kg final.
Wu Di began China’s run in the women’s 52kg final against Iran’s Sogand Sinkaeichetan. Using quick attacks at close range and controlling the distance between them, Wu secured a 2-0 victory and the first Sanda gold of the session.
China doubled its tally as Zhang Xiaoyu defeated India’s Naorem Roshibina Devi 2-0 in the women’s 60kg final. Zhang won both rounds 5-0, while Roshibina secured her third consecutive Asian Games medal, following bronze in 2018 and silver in 2023.
The pattern continued when the men entered the ring. Ou Jiaming defeated Vietnam’s Dinh Van Tam in the 56kg final, before Tang Sishuo overcame Hong Kong, China’s Leung Yu Hong for the 60kg title. Four finals had produced four Chinese champions.
The men’s 65kg contest brought China and Iran together again, with Wang Chengjin facing Shoja Panahigelehkolaei. Wang secured the victory to extend China’s sequence to five gold medals.
Ma Shuo then made it six from six for China. Facing another Iranian finalist, Erfan Moharrami Piraghom, Ma won the men’s 70kg title, ensuring that every Chinese athlete competing in a Sanda final that day left the venue as an Asian Games champion.
Only one gold remained, and this time the pattern changed. Mousavi faced Kazakhstan’s Abdurashid Abdullayev in the men’s 75kg final and claimed the title, giving Iran its sole Sanda gold of the day and ending China’s run of six consecutive victories.
Seven finals produced six Chinese champions and one Iranian winner, bringing the Sanda competition in Nagoya to a close. From Wu Di’s opening victory in the women’s 52kg to the final men’s 75kg contest, China had controlled almost the entire gold-medal programme, turning the last afternoon of Wushu into a showcase of its depth across the Sanda categories.