[By NBC-1TV K, Y Yi] WUXI, CHINA (Dec. 16) – A captivating final day of the World Taekwondo Grand Slam Champions Series saw Great Britain, China, Korea, Iran, Russia and Thailand claim gold.  

Jun Jang of Korea won gold in the men’s -58kg, crowd favourite Shuai Zhao of China won the men’s -68kg, Maksim Khramtcov of Russia secured gold in the -80kg and Sajjad Mardani of Iran won the men’s +80kg. In the women’s categories, number two seed Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand won gold in the -49kg, Lijun Zhou of China succeeded in the women’s -57kg, and Lauren Williams and Bianca Walkden, both of Great Britain, won the -67kg and +67kg respectively.

M-58kg

The men’s -58kg category saw number two seed Jun Jang of Korea see off Yushuai Liang of China 3-0 in the first final of the day. The bronze medal was claimed by Amin Hadipour Seighalani of Iran after he defeated Tae-hun Kim of Korea 3-2 in an incredibly tight match-up.

M-68kg

Much to the delight of the home crowd, Shuai Zhao of China landed the title winning blow in a golden point round of the men’s -68kg. Zhao saw off a valiant Bradly Sinden of Great Britain in a terrific final. The bronze was won by pre-tournament favourite Dae-hoon Lee of Korea after he beat Javier Perez Polo of Spain.  

M-80kg

Number one seed Maksim Khramtcov of Russia secured gold in the men’s -80kg after he defeated Hwan Namgoong of Korea 3-1 in the final. The bronze was claimed by Milad Beigi Harchegani of Azerbaijan, who beat Linglong Chen of China.

M+80kg

The men’s +80kg saw a major shock as number one seed Kyo-don In of Korea lost to Sajjad Mardani of Iran in a scintillating golden point round. Zhaoxiang Song of China won bronze by beating fellow countryman Hongyi Sun.

W-49kg

Number two seed Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand convincingly overcame Min-Ah Ha of Korea 2-0. Xueqin Tan of China saw off Bora Kang of Korea to win bronze.       

W-57kg

In the women’s -57kg, Lijun Zhou of China won gold in front of the ever-animated home crowd. Zhou narrowly defeated Jade Jones of Great Britain 2-1 in what was probably the best final of the day. Number two seed Ah-Reum Lee of Korea beat Marija Stetic of Croatia in the bronze medal match.

W-67kg

Lauran Williams of Great Britain added to her Manchester Grand Prix title by convincingly seeing off Nur Tatar Askari of Turkey in the final of the women’s -67kg. The Bronze was won by Ruth Gbagbi of Ivory Coast after she beat Yunfei Guo of China 2-0.

W+67kg

Number one seed and pre-tournament favourite, Bianca Walkden of Great Britain won the women’s +67kg. Walkden secured the gold by defeating Madelynn Gorman-Shore of USA 2-1.Aleksandra Kowalczuk of Poland won the bronze by beating Rebecca McGowan of Great Britain 2-1.     

The Grand Slam Champions Series ends a fantastic and successful calendar year for World Taekwondo and its athletes.