FUJAIRAH, UAE (May 12, 2025) - It was another gripping day of competition at the World Taekwondo Cadet Championships in Fujairah, as an Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN), Iran, Korea and Uzbekistan each won gold medals.
It continued the theme of there being no dominant nation at the event, with medals shared around the world in a showcase of the growing global strength of Taekwondo .
AIN Elina Kamalova won the first gold medal of the day in the W -41kg category. She took the first round 6-3 against Serbia’s Mia Buneta, then delivered a superb second round display to triumph 16-4.
Kamalova overcame Iran’s Parnia Jafari in the semi-finals, her opponent sharing bronze with Uzbekistan’s Raykhona Asanbaeva.
Parham Tarchani Salehan of Iran won an entertaining M -53kg final against Greece’s Vasileios Nikolaou, triumphing 12-9 in the first round and 19-14 in the second.
Both finalists were also involved in high-scoring semi-finals - Tarchani Salehan defeated Thailand’s Tanaphat Nithitbowornphak, while Nikolaou staved off the challenge of Poland’s Pawel Bisior.
Korea’s Seoyoung Yang delivered an impressive display to take gold in the W +59kg event. She won the first round 13-5, and then edged the second 7-6 in the final against Croatia’s Lorena Opačak.
Yang had produced a mature performance in the semi-final to prevent her opponent Eylül Duru Varlik of Türkiye from scoring, while Spain’s Angela Balado Conde was also on the podium in joint-third.
The fourth and final gold medal of day four went to Uzbekistan’s Nikita Bibikov, who recovered from losing the first round to win the M -65kg final against Iran’s Amirreza Aghamohammadi. With Aghamohammadi taking the first round 6-4 and leading for much of the second, he had looked strong favourite for victory. However, Bibikov added vital points in a dramatic finish to win the second round 9-7 and force a decider, which he won 8-4.
Bronze medals went to Türkiye’s Ramazan Sevinç and Korea’s Jioh Jeon.
The final day of the biggest-ever World Taekwondo Cadet Championships tomorrow will feature events in the M -41kg and M -57kg along with the W -59kg and W -37kg categories.
