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Muju Taekwondowon 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge
The first day of action at the inaugural edition of the Muju Taekwondowon 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge ended with China and Chinese Taipei taking the two gold medals on offer.
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Set in the purpose-built Taekwondowon complex in the scenic valley of Muju, southwest Korea, the new G1-ranked tournament features fighters ranked below 70 in Taekwondo’s Olympic rankings.
Tickets to this year’s World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Manchester, GB, are on offer to the first and second place finishers in each weight category. As such, the new tourney offers players in the talent pipeline a shortcut to the elite level.
Day 1’s competition saw the W-57kg and the M-68kg weight categories being contested.
In the W-57kg, Jui-en Chang of Chinese Taipei swept through the initial rounds, overcoming Thailand’s Chidchanok Mayneawklang 2-1, India’s Latika Bhandari 2-0 and Korea’s Myeong-jin Kang 2-1 en route to the final. Chang’s power throughout the competition was also on display in the final in which she bested Chen Lin of China 2-1 to take gold.
Korea’s Myeong-jin Kang would go on to win bronze after beating Junli Yang of China.
In the M-68kg, Korea’s Kang-eun Seo bested fellow Korean Do-yun Kwon 2-1 to advance to the final. The Korean would eventually fall to China’s Wenye Lin 1-0 in the final. In the bronze medal match, Kwon overcame Chinese Taipei’s Hao-yu Hsu.
The gold medalists each earned USD4,000 in prize money, securing their tickets to the Manches- ter 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix on October 21-23. The silver medalists each took home USD 2,000 and booked their own tickets to Manchester.
The opening ceremony took place after the first day of competition concluded.
“The World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge is a pathway for aspiring athletes to fulfil their dreams to become Taekwondo stars,” World Taekwondo President Chungwon Choue said. “I wish you all the best and hope that you achieve your goals over the coming days.”
In addition, Choue and executives from the Kukkiwon, Taekwondowon and Muju’s City Hall participated in a tree-planting ceremony to commemorate the event.
