Seif Eissa beats Vladislav Larin (Photo World Taekwondo)
The Muju Taekwondowon 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix concluded with two golds for Korea and a long-awaited triumph for Egypt’s Seif Eissa.
Mun Jin-ho took the first gold medal of the day in the men’s -68kg, and he was followed by compatriot Song Da-bin in the women’s +67kg after she won a dramatic final against Russia’s Anastasiia Kosmycheva.
Jin-ho triumphed at his home Grand Prix thanks to an impressive display in the final against Croatia’s Marko Golubić, the world champion at -74kg in 2023.
He dominated proceedings, winning the first round 7-0 and the second 13-7 to take gold. His success followed on from his victory at last year’s World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge event in Bangkok.
In the semi-finals, jin-ho claimed a notable comeback victory against Russia’s Amir Vykov, the runner-up at the last World Taekwondo Grand Prix in Rome.
The other semi-final saw Golubić overcome USA’s Maikol Rodriguez, bronze medallist at the Wuxi 2025 World Taekwondo Championships.
The host nation’s second success of the day came courtesy of Da-bin, who produced a remarkable comeback in a thrilling encounter against Kosmycheva.
The final was a repeat of the gold medal match at last year’s World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge in Muju, which was won by Kosmycheva. She took the first round 9-7 to take the lead, but Song fought back strongly in the second and edged it 11-10.
The deciding third round was similarly close, and it was a brilliant head kick from Da-bin in the final 10 seconds which helped to turn it in her favour, as she eventually won 12-7 for her first Grand Prix gold.
Da-bin received a walkover in the semi-final due to an injury to her opponent Kimi Laurène Ossin of Côte d’Ivoire, the winner of the Grand Prix in Rome. Her day also included an impressive victory against two-time world champion Luana Márton of Hungary in the round of 16.
Kosmycheva improved on her bronze won at the Grand Prix in Rome, helped by a superb win against the reigning -73kg world champion and 2025 World Taekwondo Athlete of the Year Sarah Chaâri of Belgium in the semi-finals.
The Grand Prix closed with a remarkable story, as Egypt’s Seif Eissa clinched his first Grand Prix gold medal.
Eissa, crowned -87kg world champion in Wuxi last year, had previously won eight Grand Prix medals but never gold.
That changed with a two-round victory in the final against Russia’s Vladislav Larin, the former world and Olympic champion.
Eissa edged a 2-2 first round on the tiebreak rule, then built a healthy lead in the second before two late Gam-jeoms against Larin closed the gap to a 4-4 final score, enough to seal gold for the Egyptian.
He had earlier fought back from losing the first round to win his semi-final against Greece’s Vasíleios Tholiotis, while Larin overcame the reigning Olympic champion Arian Salimi of Iran.
Following the conclusion of competition, awards were presented to Nichola White of Australia as the Best Female Referee and American Leslie Cheung as the Best Male Referee.
The third 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix stop will take place in Paris, France from October 9-11, following the World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix held on October 8.
