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The third and final day of the Manchester 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix saw Lorena Brandl make amends for her +67kg final defeat at the European Championships.
The German avenged her defeat on home soil in Munich to Britain’s Bianca Cook in the quarter-finals before defeating Poland’s Aleksandra Kowalczuk.
In the final, Brandl needed all three rounds to best France’s Althea Laurin with the 25-year-old visibly beaming as the seconds counted down after an amazing hook kick took her into a 5-2 lead.
Laurin needed a headshot which didn’t come, and Brandl secured the title.
Xu Lei of China and Kowalczuk both won bronze.
Manchester 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix – Women’s +67kg Results
1 Lorena Brandl, Germany
2 Althea Laurin, France
3= Xu Lei, China
3= Aleksandra Kowalczuk, Poland
Seo Geon-Woo beats Simone Alessio to gold
Seo Geon-Woo wasn’t messing around in the men’s -80kg final, scoring a point at the start which he maintained to take the first round.
The South Korean knew he had to take the initiative against the in-form Simone Alessio who had won the previous two Grand Prix in Paris and Rome, but it wasn’t the italian’s day with Seo taking the second round 7-6 to claim the title.
South Korea’s Hwan Namgoong and Tunisia’s Firas Katousi shared bronze.
Manchester 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix – Men -80kg Results
1 Seo Geon-Woo, South Korea
2 Simone Alessio, Italy
3= Hwan Namgoong, South Korea
3= Firas Katousi, Tunisia
Maicon Siqueira just pips home favourite Cunningham
Despite plenty of home support, Caden Cunningham just lost out in the third round of the men’s +80kg final to Rio 2016 bronze medallist Maicon Siqueira.
With 20 seconds to go in the decider, Brazilian Siqueira went in front before a double-kick to the body secured him the round 4-1 and the title.
Cunningham had thrilled the crowd earlier with a semi-final triumph over Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Cheick Salla Cisse.
The nail-biting fight brought the Manchester Grand Prix to a close with athletes clutching medals, winner’s cheques and some all-important ranking points towards qualifying for Paris 2024.
Next up is the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Final set for the Saudi capital Riyadh in early December.
READ MORE: How to qualify for taekwondo at Paris 2024. The Olympics qualification system explained
Manchester 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix – Men’s +80kg Results
1 Maicon Siqueira, Brazil
2 Caden Cunningham, Great Britain
3= Cheick Salla Cisse, Cote d’Ivoire
3= Emre Kutalmis Atesli, Turkey
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