Talent Pipeline in the Spotlight in Sofia: World Taekwondo Cadet Championships

The World Taekwondo Cadet Championships kicked off in Sofia today, with young athletes competing across five of the 20 weight categories which will be showcased over the next four days.

The competiton sees 683 athletes, aged 12-14 years, from 77 countries take part. It is the fifth edition of the event; the previous edition was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the opening day it was the turn of the M-65kg and M+65kg categories and the W-29kg, W-33kg and W-51kg categories. Korea and Iran came out on top, winning two gold medals each, while Thailand won one.

In the M-65kg, Dong-min Kang from Korea won the gold, overcoming Iran’s Mohammaderfan Zare in the final after winning the first two rounds.

In the second of the male’s categories, the M+65kg, it was another Korean, Min-joon Kim, who won gold as he beat Egypt’s Mohamed Ahmed Fawzy 2:0.

Baran Jamal Livani won Iran’s first gold medal as she defeated Kazakhstan’s Yarina Pugantsova in straight rounds in the W-29kg.

Sayna Alipour added to Iran’s gold medal tally as she beat Magdalini Klakala from Greece 2:0 in the W-51kg.

The last of the female gold medals of the day, the W-33kg, went to Arisa Zaelee from Thailand who overcame Aleyna Nur Ili from Turkiye.