Manchester 2022

Korea and Thailand Triumph as Grand Prix Returns to Manchester

MANCHESTER, UK (Oct. 21, 2022)

The first medals of the Manchester 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix were awarded today, as elite competition returned to GB in front of a vocal crowd at the Manchester Regional Arena. The competition’s first day pitted established champions against up-and-coming talent: Veteran Olympic Champion Panipak Wongpattanakit won the W-49 kg category, while total newcomer Tae-Joon Park won the M-58 kg.

With the Olympic qualification period for 2024 now underway, athletes competed not just for Grand Prix glory, but also for ranking points that could speed them on their paths to Paris.

In the W-49kg category, Turkiye’s Merve Dincel progressed to the final after beating Tokyo 2020 Silver Medalist Adrianna Cerezo Iglesias of Spain, after Tokyo 2020 Champion Wongpattanakit defeated China’s Qing Guo in her own semifinal, Dincel and Wongpattanakit found themselves reprising their Paris Grand Prix final. As in Paris, Wongpattanakit proved to be the superior fighter.

In the M-58kg, Korea’s Park, making his GP debut, caused the upset of the evening. Park, who is not ranked among the elite, had arrived in Manchester as the winner of the WT Grand Prix Challenge event held in June in Muju - a pipeline event designed to give up-and-comers an opportunity at the sport’s elite level.

Park began his charge with a shock defeat of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Champion Vito Dell’Aquila of Italy in their semifinal. In the final, Park met Tokyo 2020 Silver Medalist Mohammed Khalil Jendoubi of Tunisia. Jendoubi had defeated Jack Woolley of Ireland in his own semifinal, despite the latter benefitting from a vocal contingent of supporters.

The final proved to be a close fight. Each athlete took a round before the outcome was settled in the final seconds of the third, with Park victorious.