WUXI, China (Mar 30, 2023) - The Open Qualification Tournament for Wuxi 2022 Grand Slam Champions Series returned in style today with a full day of thrilling and competitive Taekwondo.
Spain’s Adriana Cerezo Iglesias, Reza Kalhor of Iran, China’s Zeqi Zhou and Uzbekistan’s Nikita Rafalovich claimed gold across the four weight categories on the opening day to book their places in the Wuxi 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Slam Champions Series Final on April 2-3. They will be joined by today’s silver and bronze medallists as well as the next five highest finishing athletes from the open qualification tournament.
Cerezo Iglesias won the first gold of the day as her opponent Saeideh Nasiri Darounkola of Iran withdrew in the final of the women’s -49kg. A Chinese bronze medal bout saw Xiaolu Wang beat her compatriot Shiyi Wang 2:0.
The second final saw another victory by withdrawal as Iran’s Danial Bozorgishoob withdrew in the men’s -68kg to give Kalhor the victory. Jaegwon Kang from Korea won bronze beating Ye Qiu of China 2:0.
In the women’s -67kg, Zhou faced Korea’s Hong in a highly entertaining final. The match went to a third and decisive round but it was Zhou who proved too strong and won 2:1. Jiani Xing of China won bronze as Hungary’s Vivana Marton withdrew from the bronze medal bout.
The men’s heavyweight +80kg drew together Rafalovich and Sanghyun Kang of Korea. It was another narrow miss for the Korean team as Rafalovich exerted his dominance to win the match 2:0. Abolfazl Abbasi Pouya of Iran won the country’s fourth medal of the day with bronze as he overcame Yaoxi Wang of China 2:0.
