Current and former World Champions claimed half of the divisions in the Rome Grand Prix, especially for the Korean and Russian teams that won three classes each.
For the Koreans, two women’s champions won in Rome: 2017 title winner Ah-Reum Lee at 57 kg and 2019 World 73 kg Champion Da-Bin Lee took the +67 kg class. In addition, Jun Jang won the men’s -58 kg division.
Russia got men’s wins from 2017 World Champion Maksim Khramtcov (-80 kg) and 2019 gold medalist Vladislav Larin won at +80 kg. Elizaveta Ryadninskaya was the winner at -49 kg over Korea’s Jae-Young Sim in the final, 8-4.
Korea further impressed by winning medals in all four women’s categories and in six of the eight divisions overall. Prize money of $5,000-3,000-1,000 was available for the top three place winners. Summaries:
World Taekwondo Grand Prix
Rome (ITA) ~ 7-9 June 2019
(Full results here)
Men
-58 kg: 1. Jun Jang (KOR); 2. Jesus Tortosa Cabrera (ESP); 3. Mikhail Artamonov (RUS) and Tae-Hun Kim (KOR). Final: Jang d. Tortosa Cabrera, 3-2.
-68 kg: 1. Mirhashem Hosseini (IRI); 2. Dae-Hoon Lee (KOR); 3. Bradly Sinden (GBR) and Shuai Zhao (CHN). Final: Hosseini d. Lee, 13-11.
-80 kg: 1. Maksim Khramtcov (RUS); 2. Raul Martinez Garcia (ESP); 3. Cheick Salle Cisse (CIV) and Achraf Mahboubi (MAR). Final: Khramtcov d. Martinez, 16-10.
+80 kg: 1. Vladislav Larin (RUS); 2. Ruslan Zharapov (KAZ); 3. Mahama Cho (GBR) and Sajjad Mardani (IRI). Final: Larin d. Zharapov, 9-7.
Women
-49 kg: 1. Elizaveta Ryadninskaya (RUS); 2. Jae-Young Sim (KOR); 3. Thi Kim Tuyen Truong (VIE) and Miu Yamada (JPN). Final: Ryadninskaya d. Sim, 8-4.
-57 kg: 1. Ah-Reum Lee (KOR); 2. Halice Kubra Ilgun (TUR); 3. Skylar Park (CAN) and Anastasija Zolotic (USA). Final: Lee d. Ingun, 18-8.
-67 kg: 1. Matea Jelic (CRO); 2. Jan-Di Kim (KOR); 3. Hedaya Malak (EGY) and Magda Wiet Henin (FRA). Final: Jelic d. Kim, 8-3.
+67 kg: 1. Da-Bin Lee (KOR); 2. Briseida Acosta (MEX); 3. Aleksandra Kowalczuk (POL) and Gabriele Siqueira (BRA). Final: Lee d. Acosta, 10-4.
