Doha: The sixth Qatar International Taekwondo Championship concluded yesterday after four days of competition at the Women’s Sports Committee Hall. Organised by the Qatar Taekwondo, Judo and Karate Federation, the tournament brought together 1,152 athletes from more than 46 countries across four age categories: children, cadets, juniors and seniors.

The final day featured 16 senior weight divisions, with eight each for men and women. In the men’s competition, gold medals went to Belarus’s Hristiyan Georgiev in under-54kg, Türkiye’s Enes Kaplan in under-58kg, Tunisia’s Adem Salmi in under-63kg and compatriot Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi in under-68kg, Iran’s Radin Zeinali in under-74kg and compatriot Amir Bakhtiari in under-80kg, Uzbekistan’s Yodgorbek Zoroboyev in under-87kg, and Tunisia’s Moataz Ayfaoui in over-87kg.

In the women’s competition, gold medals were claimed by Egypt’s Haneen Ali Rabie Abdelaziz in under-46kg, Türkiye’s Zeynep Taskin in under-49kg, Russia’s Veronika Levakova in under-53kg and compatriot Ksenia Smirnova in under-57kg, Iran’s Nastaran Valizadeh in under-62kg and compatriot Soghar Sheiklar in under-67kg. Egypt’s Malak El-Husseini won the under-73kg title after defeating Qatar’s Nour Mohammed in the final, with Mohammed taking silver. Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Saidova claimed gold in over-73kg.
 

Following the competition, Eid Al-Muraikhi, President of the Qatar Taekwondo, Judo and Karate Federation, presented medals to the top three finishers in the various weight divisions. He also honoured the heads of the participating delegations with commemorative plaques in recognition of their active participation and contribution to the tournament’s success, as well as recognising the tournament’s referees. Federation board member Amna Al-Kuwari also presented medals to the women’s medallists.

The G1-ranked championship, which offers world ranking points, featured 697 male and 455 female athletes, including more than 20 Olympic and world champions, competing across 76 weight divisions in the four age categories.

Al-Muraikhi expressed his satisfaction with the tournament’s success, praising both the organisation and the standard of competition.

He said the final day’s men’s and women’s events had produced high-quality performances and closely contested, exciting bouts, with leading world champions from Tunisia, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine competing alongside athletes from the other participating nations.

He explained that the record number of participants at this edition, including more than 20 Olympic and world champions, had made the competition even stronger and raised its technical standard.

He added that hosting such tournaments gives Qatari athletes valuable opportunities to compete against world-class opponents, gain experience and assess their abilities against leading international approaches to the sport.