Leslie Soltero celebrates after winning the women's under-67kg title in front of her home fans ©World Taekwondo

There were jubilant scenes here this evening as Mexico's Leslie Soltero delivered home success by claiming the women’s under-67 kilogram title at the World Taekwondo Championships.

Backed by the patriotic crowd and a Mexican band, an inspired Soltero downed Aleksandra Perisic of Serbia to secure her first world title at the Centro Acuático CODE Metropolitano in Guadalajara.

It was tension-filled final which went down to the wire as Soltero stepped up when it mattered most to secure the match-winning points.

Soltero overpowered Perisic in the dying seconds of the deciding round as she was rewarded three points to the delight of the Mexican fans.

Perisic battled hard, recovering from a narrow first-round loss to send the match into a decider but she fell agonisingly short and had to settle for silver.

Serbia’s Mahdi Khodabakhshi secured his second world title - seven years after his last ©World Taekwondo
Serbia’s Mahdi Khodabakhshi secured his second world title - seven years after his last ©World Taekwondo

Cecilla Castro Burgos of Spain and Milena Titoneli of Brazil were the bronze medallists in the category after losing to Soltero and Perisic in the semi-finals respectively.

It was an action-packed day in Guadalajara as the two other sets of medals were also awarded.

Serbia’s Mahdi Khodabakhshi captured his second world title – seven years after his first after beating Meng Mingkuan of China to clinch men’s under-87kg gold.

Khodabakhshi was last crowned world champion in 2015 when he was representing Iran.

Since switching allegiance to Serbia, Khodabakhshi achieved European silver in 2021 and has now bagged a world title.
Meng made a strong start to the second round after losing the first by a single point as he went 3-0 ahead.

Belgium's Sarah Chaari lands a shot on her way to the women's under-62kg title ©World Taekwondo
Belgium's Sarah Chaari lands a shot on her way to the women's under-62kg title ©World Taekwondo

But Khodabakhshi hit back with a strike to Meng’s head before hanging on to a one-point lead to secure gold.

Bryan Salazar’s hopes of claiming gold for Mexico were dashed when he lost to Meng in the semi-final but took home a bronze as he joined fellow losing semi-finalist Nikita Rafalovich of Uzbekistan on the podium.

There was also a gold medal for Belgium as Sarah Chaari defeated Theopoula Sarvanaki of Greece in the women’s under-62kg final.

It was not a pretty contest as the pair scrapped it out but Chaari ensured she was the victor, edging the first round before a late flurry at the end of the second secured the title.

The bronze medals went to Aaliyah Power of Britain and Feruza Sadikova of Uzbekistan.
Competition continues tomorrow.