Iran's Valizadeh Khalkhali Comes 5th in Malaysia int'l Quran Competition
The awarding ceremony was held at Putra Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur.
Winner of the top title in this edition of the competition was from the host country.
Ahmed Tirmizi bin Ali from Malaysia scored 93.30 out of 100. The second and third places went to Mehmet Bilir from Turkey (89.21) and Ehsan Nezula Zamri from Indonesia (88.72), IRNA reported.
Iran's representative Hamed Valizadeh Khalkhali who bagged the fifth prize scoring 87.67 was not happy with the judgments in the competition and described them as unfair.
Thirty-eight reciters, including 15 women took part in the competition which started last Monday.
For the first time in the history of the contest, it also included a memorization category.
The male and female winners of the Quran recitation each walked away with a gold ingot worth RM70,000, a trophy and RM40,000 cash.
In the memorization category, the male and female each received RM30,000 cash and a certificate.
