Roma World Taekwondo Grand Prix Home Favourite, Spanish Sensation Strike Gold

The Roma 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix drew to a close today with some superb matches as Italy and Spain grabbed the last remaining gold medals.

The Italian crowd had hoped for a gold medal all competition and their 2019 World Champion, Simone Alessio delivered the honors inthe M-80kg. In the W-49kg it was Spain’s teenage Olympic Silver Medalist Adriana Cerezo Iglesias who won her country its first gold of the competition.

The silver medals on the day were won by Egypt and Croatia, while Korea and Mexico took bronzes in the W-49kg and Korea and Uzbekistan won bronzes in the M-80kg.

Spain’s Cerezo Iglesias and Croatia’s Bruna Duvancic faced each other in the final of the W-49kg. Neither fighter had competed at a World Taekwondo Grand Prix before and so were guaranteed their first-ever medals.

Cerezo Iglesias came out on the front foot and after a series of front kick jabs, landed one to go 2-0 up. Another kick to the body shortly after extended her lead to 4-0. Two Gam-jeoms for being forced out of the area brought Duvancic to within touching distance, but another kick to the body by Cerezo Iglesias won her the round 6-2. The second round was very tight as both fighters defended well and struggled to land with sufficient accuracy. Cerezo Iglesias managed to break the deadlock with a kick to the body and take a 2-0 lead. With 10 seconds left Duvancic managed a body kick of her own to leave the round tied at 2-2. But it was not enough, and Cerezo Iglesias won the round and the gold medal. The Spaniard flipped across the mat in joy, much to the delight of the crowd.

Cerezo Iglesias had faced Korea’s Double World Champion Jae-young Sim in the first of the semifinals. Cerezo Iglesias won the first round 5-2. In the second round Kim took the lead with a punch to the body but Cerezo Iglesias fought back to 7-1 win and booked her place in the final.

Duvancic faced Mexico’s Daniela Paola Souza in the second semifinal. Well executed head kicks from Duvancic ultimately proved too much and she won the round 8-3. An exciting second round saw both fighters land spectacular head kicks to the delight of the crowd. Despite Souza having held an early lead, Duvancic fought back to win 7-6.

-80kg

Italy’s Simone Alessio entered the arena to deafening noise for his battle with Egypt’s two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist, Seif Eissa. The Italian took an early one-point lead courtesy of a Gamjeom but gave one away himself to tie scores at 1-1. Then, an over-the-top head kick gave Alessio a 4-1 lead. Eissa, mindful of getting too close and leaving himself open to another head kick, tried to control the distance but could not land his kicks and the round ended 4-1 to the Italian.

Spurred on by the crowd, Alessio opened the scoring in the second round with another of his trademark head kicks. Two penalties from the Italian took the score to 3-3. With under 10 seconds to go, Eissa was judged to have pushed Alessio to the ground and so received a Gam-jeom - giving Alessio the round, the match and the crowd. The crowd erupted as, overcome with emotion, Alessio dropped to his knees and was embraced by his coach.

Alessio had been paired against Korea’s Woo-hyeok Park in the first of the semifinals which turned out to be one of the most exciting matches of the Grand Prix. From start to finish the crowd were on their feet as both fighters landed head kicks. The first round finished 10-10 but Alessio won on superiority. The second round saw Park lead for large portions, but a head kick from Alessio with 13 seconds remaining was enough to secure the match. The second semifinal saw Eissa face Uzbekistan’s Shukhrat Salaev. Salaev drew first blood, winning Round 1 6-3. In the second, it was Eissa’s turn to exert his dominance as he fought to a relatively comfortable 9-4 win. The first two rounds took their toll and the third round was played out at a less frantic pace. It was 0-0 until the last second when Salaev thought he had won with a head kick - only for it to be ruled to have been executed illegally giving Eissa the win courtesy of penalty.