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Host Great Britain, Spain, Russia Clinch 1 Gold Medal Each on 1st Day of 2013 WTF Grand Prix Final in Manchester
Host Great Britain, Spain and Russia took one gold medal each on the opening day of the inaugural 2013 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final in Manchester on 13 December, 2013.
Great Britain's Mahama Cho required a fourth golden-point round to earn his country the gold medal in the men's +80kg division against Brazil's Guilherme Cezario Felix.
After three rounds of competition, Cho and Felix were tied at 2-2 and his right-hand punch in the fourth sudden-death round gave him the victory, exciting the home fans.
In the category, the bronze went to Gabon's Anthony Mylann Obame and Korea's Dong-min Cha.
"I did my best and my biggest dream has come true," said the 24-year-old Cho shortly after the final match. "My next dream is the 2016 Rio Olympics and I am confident that I will make it."
Cho, who started taekwondo at the age of 8, said he won the final match against Felix at the 2012 French Open.
In the women's -49kg final match, Spain's Brigida Yague Enrique easily defeated Korea's So-hui Kim 9-1 to earn her country the gold medal.
Yague Enrique, the silver medalist at the 2012 London Olympic Games and four-time world champion, needed a fourth golden-point round to reach the final match against Chinese Zhao Yi Li.
In the category, the bronze went to China's Zhao Yi Li and France's Yasmina Aziez.
In the women's +67kg category, Russia's Olga Ivanova beat Korea's In-jong Lee 2-1 in the final match to take the gold medal.
Mexico's Briseida Acosta Balarezo and the Netherlands' Reshmie Shari Oogink shared the bronze medal in the division.
Russian Ivanova, the gold medalist in the women's +73kg division at the 2013 Puebla World Taekwondo Championships, advanced to the final match by crushing the Netherlands's Oogink 12-3. Korea's Lee reached the final match as
she outpointed Mexican Maria del Espinoza 9-6.
A total of 231 athletes, including 115 males, from 59 countries are competing for top honors at the 2013 WTF World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final event, which kicked off on 13 December for a three-day run at the Manchester Central Exhibition Complex.
For the first time ever in WTF history, all semifinal and final matches are conducted on a black-mat court, which are televised live about 100 countries around the world.
The Grand Prix final features four male and four female Olympic weight categories and the maximum number of athletes per Olympic weight division is 32.
Source: WTF
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