ROMA, Italy (June 9, 2019) –The historic Roma 2019 World Taekwondo Grand Prix drew to a close tonight with Russia going out on a high as they won both gold medals on offer.
Elizaveta Ryadninskaya won the women’s -49kg and Maksim Khramtcov took gold in the men’s -80kg.
On the final day of the inaugural Poomsae Grand Prix the freestyle mixed team over 17 medals went to the Vietnam National Team who won gold and silver went to the Italian National Team.
Women -49kg
Elizaveta Ryadninskaya and Jae-Young Sim of Korea contested the first final of the night. In the first round the two fighters struggled to find the angle needed to land any points and it was their defences which came out on top. Ryadninskaya broke the deadlock 20 seconds into the second round with a kick to the head. She added to her lead with a punch at the beginning of the third round and followed up with another kick to the head to go seven points clear. Sim fought back well, landing a head kick to take the score to 7-3. A power punch from Kim reduced the point difference further but her progress was undone by a gam-jeom. Ryadninskaya took gold winning 8-4.
The bronze medals went to Miyu Yamada of Japan and Thailand’s Thi Kim Tuyen Truong. Yamada and Ryadninskaya faced each other in the first of the semi-finals. A thrilling final 10 seconds of the match saw both fighters take the lead only for Ryadninskaya to land a last second kick to win 11-10. Sim and Truong met in the second semi final with Sim dominating the opening rounds and establishing an unassailable lead as she won 13-3.
Men’s -80kg
Maksim Khramtcov of Russia and Raul Martinez Garcia of Spain met in the last final of the Grand Prix. Khramtcov landed a punch to the body to take a one-point lead in the first round. A front kick to the head in the second round brought the score to 4-0. But as the fight threatened to get away from Martinez Garcia, he landed a kick to the head followed by a punch and another kick to the head to go 7-4 up in the space of a few seconds.
With the fight in full swing, Khramtcov responded with a crescent kick over the shoulder to even the scores at 7-7. The high-intensity continued in the third round. Khramtcov landed a kick to the body again only for Martinez Garcia to respond with one of his own and even the scores once again. With 30 seconds remaining the scores were tied 10-10. Khramtcov took the initiative and landed a punch-head kick combination. Martinez Garcia attempted spinning back kicks to get back into the fight but on both occasions failed to land and hit the mat in the process giving away two gam-jeoms. Khramtcov won the match 16-10.
Achraf Mahboubi of Morocco and Rio 2016 gold medallist Cheick Sallah Cisse won the bronze medals. Khramtcov and Mahboubi were drawn in the first semi-final. Khramtcov established a 4-point lead in the first round which he extended to 11 points in the second. The match ended 13-1 to Khramtcov. In the second semi-final Cisse and Martinez Garcia put on an excellent show for the crowd. Cisse finished the first round ahead but Garcia fought back and won the match 13-7.
