Participants at the championship pose for a group photo.

The 8th edition of the Fujairah G2 International Taekwondo Championship reached a gripping conclusion at the Zayed Sports Complex in Fujairah recently.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah, The Honorary President of the Emirates Taekwondo Federation, the event has been organised by the Fujairah Martial Arts Club and supervised by the Emirates Taekwondo Federation.

The tournament - the first of a busy year on the Taekwondo Federation's calendar for 2020 – welcomed a record participation of 2,000 fighters who represented 43 countries.

Pakistan’s youngest female athlete in Taekwondo has won a gold medal in 34kg category at the 8th Fujairah Open Taekwondo Championship.

Ayesha Ayaz poses for a photograph with her gold medal.

Ayesha Ayaz, a nine-year-old student of Class IV from Swat Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, started practising the sport at the age of three.

She has already managed to earn honours of being a five-time district champion, two-time provincial champion and three-time national champion.

There were 27 participants from the UAE and Pakistan belonging to Al Moharb Martial Arts Club Ras Al Khaimah and were coached by Muhammad Nadeem and Nadir Khan.

The players from the club managed to win 7 medals which included 3 silver and 4 bronze.

Fahmida Faiza Lamisha, Dejessviini and Turag Singla grabbed silver medals whereas  Shreyastha Banik Fareha Jannate Nabela, Shreya Nayek and Tharun Nabirajan managed to win bronze for themselves.

Pakistani participants at the event.

The adult categories reached their conclusions on Sunday, with a number of the world’s leading elite stars all bidding to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo from July 24-August 9 by picking up crucial qualifying points.

Turkish star, Rukiye Yilderim, who has already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, avoided any surprises and cruised through to the gold medal in the -49kg weight category.

The world bronze medalist beat Palestine’s Ghazal Kayani in the final and along the way, the 28-year-old also beat Chinese Taipei’s Hongyu Ting, the bronze medalist at the 2018 Asian Championship.

Elsewhere, 2018 Asian Games gold medallist and top ranked Chinese Taipei fighter, Su Bo Ya, took gold in the -53kg weight after overcoming the Uzbek competitor, Kayumova Sharos, in the final.

The brilliant Turkish player, Hatice Kubra İlgün, who won the silver medal at the world championship in 2017, picked up the gold medal in the women’s -57kg category.

Jordan’s up and coming international star, Natalie Al Hamidi, who previously fought at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, won the gold medal in the -62kg weight division by beating Uzbek fighter, Firouza, in the final.

Officials and players of the Al Mohrab Club pose for a photograph during the event.

Jordanian excellence continued in the women's -67kg category, where Juliana Al-Sadiq took the gold medal by beating her close Olympic rival, Negura Tursunkulova, of Uzbekistan.

Nur Tattar achieved the third gold medal for Turkey in the women’s competitions by winning the -73 kg division. Tattar is regarded as one of the best female fighters in the world having previously won the silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics and bronze at the Rio Olympics four years later to be ranked second in the world.

In the men’s events, one of the biggest surprises of the weekend in Fujairah was achieved by the Omani national team member, Shafiqani Farshid, who beat 2019 world championship bronze medalist, Hamzeh Qattan, in the last eight of the +87kg heavyweight competition. It was eventually won by Mexican, Carlos Sansories, holder of the silver medal at the latest world championship.

Brazil’s Icaro Miguel Soares seized gold in the -87kg division after his final victory against Jordan’s Anas Al Sadiq.

But Jordan did win a men’s gold when Youth Olympics bronze medallist, Zaid Mustafa, won the -68kg competition in the final seconds against Afghan fighter, Farzad Mansouri.

Jordan topped the final medal standings with 10 medals (4 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze) followed by Turkey with five medals, including four gold and one bronze.

Chinese Taipei came third with one gold, one silver and five bronze medals.