Mohammad Reza Ahmadi and Omid Hosseininejad competed for Iran in memorization of the entire Quran and recitation respectively.    

Ahmadi told IQNA that he was surprised at the outcome of the preliminary round as “I put forward one of my best performances.”

He said Hosseininejad was also worthy of being among the finalists and his exclusion even surprised the Bangladeshi member of the panel of judges.

Seven Qaris made it to the final round that was held on Friday.

The finalists were from Iraq, Turkey, Indonesia, Morocco, Malaysia, Germany and the Philippines.

The final round in the category of memorization of the entire Quran will be held Saturday night.

The international Quranic event kicked off at Fateh Mosque in Istanbul on Monday with the participation of 50 memorizers and 60 reciters from 60 countries.

Winners will be announced and awarded at the closing ceremony on Sunday.

 http://iqna.ir/fa/news/3717650