Iran won two of the three titles contested on October 9 at the Paris 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix, with Great Britain taking the remaining gold at the Palais des Sports Marcel Cerdan, in Levallois-Perret.

Abolfazl Zandi claimed the men’s −58 kg crown, Lauren Williams won women’s +67 kg and Arian Salimi triumphed in men’s +80 kg. The opening Kyorugi session followed the World Para Taekwondo Grand Prix held at the same venue on October 8.

Zandi defeats Olympic champion Park for his first Grand Prix title

Iran’s Abolfazl Zandi secured his first Grand Prix gold by defeating Korea’s Olympic champion Tae Joon Park in the men’s −58 kg final.

Following a closely contested opening round, Zandi established an advantage in the second that Park could not recover.

The Iranian reached the final after Spain’s Jesus Fraile Rodriguez withdrew following the first round of their semifinal. Park advanced with a 2–0 semifinal victory over Jordan’s Ja’afar Aldaoud, having beaten fellow Korean and −54 kg world champion Eun Su Seo in the quarterfinals.

Fraile Rodriguez and Aldaoud completed the podium with bronze medals.

Williams ends an eight-year wait for Grand Prix gold

Great Britain’s Lauren Williams returned to the top of a Grand Prix podium for the first time since 2018, defeating China’s Lei Xu in the women’s +67 kg final.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallist’s victory followed her recovery from surgery after rupturing her hamstring at the Rome 2023 Grand Prix. It was also her first Grand Prix title in the +67 kg division.

Williams took the opening round 10–6 and built a substantial advantage in the second to secure gold.

Her semifinal against Russia’s Anastasiia Kosmycheva required three rounds. Xu reached the final by defeating Hungary’s two-time world champion Luana Márton. Kosmycheva and Márton earned bronze.

Salimi wins another Paris final against Cunningham

Iran’s Arian Salimi overcame Great Britain’s Caden Cunningham 2–1 in the men’s +80 kg final, repeating the outcome of their gold-medal encounter at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Cunningham won the opening round 14–9, but the reigning Olympic champion responded by taking the second 13–9. Salimi then secured the deciding round 11–7 to claim Iran’s second title of the day.

Salimi had defeated Egypt’s reigning −87 kg world champion Seif Eissa in the semifinals, ending Eissa’s bid for consecutive Grand Prix titles after his victory in Muju.

Cunningham advanced past Tunisia’s Motaz Ifaoui, who had eliminated Italy’s two-time world champion Simone Alessio earlier in the competition. Eissa and Ifaoui took bronze.

All medallists — Paris-Levallois 2026, Kyorugi Day 1

Women’s +67 kg

• 🥇 Lauren Williams — Great Britain.
• 🥈 Lei Xu — China.
• 🥉 Anastasiia Kosmycheva — Russia.
• 🥉 Luana Márton — Hungary.

Men’s −58 kg

• 🥇 Abolfazl Zandi — Iran.
• 🥈 Tae Joon Park — Korea.
• 🥉 Jesus Fraile Rodriguez — Spain.
• 🥉 Ja’afar Aldaoud — Jordan.

Men’s +80 kg

• 🥇 Arian Salimi — Iran.
• 🥈 Caden Cunningham — Great Britain.
• 🥉 Seif Eissa — Egypt.
• 🥉 Motaz Ifaoui — Tunisia.

Three more divisions compete on October 10

The Paris-Levallois 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix continues on October 10 with women’s −57 kg, women’s −67 kg and men’s −68 kg.

MASTKD will continue its coverage from Paris-Levallois with results, images and interviews.

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