FUJAIRAH, UAE (May 11, 2025) - The biggest-ever World Taekwondo Cadet Championships began in entertaining style in Fujairah, UAE as gold medals were shared by athletes from four different nations.
Korea’s Yoon Ju Oh was first to triumph at the Zayed Sports Complex as she impressively overcame Italy’s Azzurra D'Alessandro in the W -29kg final, winning the two rounds 6-4 and 11-4.
Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) Mariia Lolenko took the first round in the semi-final against Oh 19-17, but she had to settle for bronze as her opponent won the second and third rounds 12-5 and 19-11 respectively. Morocco’s Oumaima Ait Mbark was the other bronze medallist, and was also on the receiving end of a comeback in her semi-final against D'Alessandro.
Sultonbek Nabiev of Uzbekistan won an entertaining three-round final against Serbia’s David Kukic in the M -37kg category. Nabiev eased to an 11-0 victory in the first round, but Kukic hit back 8-3 in the second to force a decider. In the crucial third round, Nabiev outscored his opponent 13-5 to take gold.
Belgium’s Liam Preuveneers and Korea’s Taegyeong Kim earned the bronze medals with their runs to the semi-finals.
W -44kg gold went to Ukraine’s Karyna Dovzhanyn, who took the first round of the final against Italy’s Malak El Koudri 14-10 and edged the second 8-7.
Tening Faye of Senegal was beaten in three rounds by Dovzhanyn in her semi-final, and shared bronze with AIN Elizaveta Bystrova, who lost a closely-fought semi-final against El Koudri.
The first day of competition concluded with a gold for Kazakhstan’s Khamzaalpen Romashkin in the M -61kg. He won a low-scoring first round in the final 3-0 against Nikola Samardzic of Canada, but his opponent hit back by edging the second 9-8. However, Romashkin was not to be denied his moment of glory and took the thrilling deciding round 17-15.
Romashkin also required three rounds to overcome Korea’s Seoyul Lim in the semi-finals, as did Samardzic against Greece’s Athanasios Fotiou on the other side of the draw.
Competition continues tomorrow at the World Taekwondo Cadet Championships in the M -33kg and M-49kg, and the W -33kg and W -55kg categories.
