SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Aug. 31, 2023) - The Sarajevo 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships today came to a close after four days of youth Taekwondo which brought athletes of all nationalities together in peace and showcased the best of the sport’s promising future.

 

Iran continued the strong form they have shown throughout the event adding two golds to their tally making it the fifth Cadet Championships that the country has won gold in the women’s category. The remaining golds were won by Serbia, Uzbekistan and Italy. 

 

Italy’s Gabriele Rosato faced Efthymios Iliadis of Greece in the M-176cm final. After two rounds it was 1-1 but in a tight final round Rosato emerged the stronger to win the gold medal. Bronze was won by Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Kazbulat Kazanchev and Thailand’s Nattawat Bunchang.

 

In the M-180cm, Nolhan Rosemond from France was matched against Akhadjon Mukhtorov of Uzbekistan. An entertaining first round ended in the Frenchman’s favour as he won 11-9. Mukhtorov came back in the second to win 8-4 and took the third round to win gold. The bronze medals were shared by Leonardo Angell from Australia and Joshua Alade from the USA.

 

Iran’s Mohammad Hossein Taghipoor and AIN Nikita Gubanov fought in the final of the M+180cm. Taghipoor came out strongly and never looked back winning the first round 12-5 and the second 11-3 to win gold. Spain’s Ivan Lysenko and AIN Ramazan Rasulov won the bronze medals. 

 

In the W-176cm, Vanja Rankov from Serbia was matched against Iran’s Ayla Jalili. The contest threatened to be a one-sided affair as Jalili won the first round 10-0. But Rankov composed herself to come back with a commanding win of her own in the second round 14-3. In the decisive round Rankov carried on where she left off scoring 11 points winning the round by point gap within the last 20 seconds. Pola Wasilewska from the USA and Klara Uglešić from Croatia won bronze. 

 

The final of the W+176cm saw one of the most commanding performances of the Championships. Hana Zarrinkamar from Iran managed to win the first round against Akon Baak by point gap with 30 seconds of the round remaining. In the second round Zarrinkamar landed two consecutive head kicks in the first 10 seconds and went on to win by point gap. Baak’s silver medal is the first silver Australia has ever won at a Cadets Championships and comes with Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medallist and Rio 2016 bronze medallist, Dongmin Cha as their coach. Home favourite from Bosnia and Herzegovina Lamija Alihodzic won the country’s first medal with bronze and Nielle Vroegh from the Netherlands won the other bronze on offer. 

 

Following the conclusion of the competition, the following awards were presented: 

• Active Participation Award: Egypt Taekwondo Federation

• Good Fighting Spirit Award: Bosnia & Herzegovina Taekwondo Federation

• Male athlete MVP: Dong-Gun Lee from Korea

• Female athlete MVP: Vanja Rankov from Serbia

• Best male Coach: Myrzagali Suranov from Kazakhstan

• Best female Coach: Niloufar Safarian Siahmazgi from Iran

• Best male Referee: Mr. Jinhwan Hwang from USA

• Best female Referee: Ms. Paula Remirez from Spain

• The female team standing for Sarajevo 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships is:

  • 1st place: Iran

  • 2nd place: Korea

  • 3rd place: Kazakhstan

  • 4th place: Croatia

  • 5th place: Italy

 

• The male team standing for Sarajevo 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships is:

  • 1st place: Kazakhstan

  • 2nd place: Uzbekistan

  • 3rd place: Italy

  • 4th place: Korea

  • 5th place: Iran

 

 The 2025 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships will be held in Fujairah, UAE.