Iran, Italy, Korea, Win Big on Day 4

Day 4

On the fourth day of the Sofia 2022 World Taekwondo Junior Championships, Italy managed to win its first gold while Korea and Iran continued their impressive form.

The day’s action saw competition across the M-63kg, W-55kg and M-68kg categories. Iran took gold in the M-63kg with Uzbekistan winning silver and Greece and Korea taking bronzes.

In the W-55kg, Korea won gold, Greece silver, and Croatia and Norway took bronzes. While in the M-68kg it was Italy who won gold, with Serbia taking silver and Australia and Kazakhstan settling for bronzes.

In the M-63kg, Matin Rezaei of Iran faced Uzbekistan’s Nazarali Nazarov in what proved to be an exceptionally tight match. The first round saw Rezaei come out on top with a one-point margin, 10-9. In the second round the fighters couldn’t be separated by points as it finished 9-9 but Nazarov was awarded the round based on superiority. With it coming down to the final round, both fighters were careful not to leave themselves exposed but Rezaei just edged it to win the round 3-2 and take the gold.

In the second final of the night, it was Gah-yeon Kim of Korea against Athanasia Repoulia of Greece for the W-55kg. Unlike the match that preceded it, this final was not close with Kim putting on a dominant display. She won the first round 12-0 and followed with a 10-2 win in the second round for the gold.

The M-68kg brought together Serbia’s Zarko Krajisnik and Italy’s Angelo Mangione. Despite having faced a gruelling semifinal earlier that evening, Mangione came out strongly and won the first round with a commanding score of 8-0. The momentum proved too difficult to reverse for Krajisnik and Mangione was able to win the second round with a convincing score of 5-1.