Johansson battled to a 4-3 victory, to better her silver medal Grand Prix performances in Astana and Manchester earlier this year, after also beating Turkey's Nur Tatar and Chinese Taipei's Chia Chia Chuang in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.

But, although she claimed in the aftermath to be "ranked as number one", this is still subject to confirmation. 

"I'm so happy, it's such a relief," she said.

"I didn't have this feeling when I woke up this morning.

"I had three very tough fights against so good athletes and I couldn't be happier.

"After this, I'm ranked as number one and I've been dreaming about this since I was like 14 so this is really one of the best days of my life, it's perfect.

"It's a good feeling when you feel like you have control of the fight.

"I was so tired in the end but I kept my focus and that's often been my problem.

"When I get tired I lose control and lose focus but this time I just kept it and I could do my taekwondo in my style."

Russia's Anastasiia Baryshnikova, the London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist and winner of the Manchester Grand Prix, recorded a 9-5 win against Chuang in the bronze medal match.

Sweden's Elin Johansson (left) beat France's Haby Niare (right) by a single point in the under 67kg category final ©WTF



In the women's under 49kg category final, Croatia's Lucija Zaninovic justified her world number one ranking by claiming the gold medal at the expense of Spain's Brigida Yagüe.

The London 2012 bronze medallist, victorious at the Astana Grand Prix in August, came from behind in the dying minutes of the third round to level the match at 7-7, before winning by a golden point.

"I found courage in myself and because of that I was very happy," said Zaninovic.

In the bronze medal match, France's Yasmina Aziez overcame Thailand's Chanatip Sonkham 7-5, to add to her second and third place Grand Prix finishes in Suzhou and Manchester respectively.

In the men's under 58kg category final, Iran's Farzan Ashour Zadeh Fallah was dominant against South Korea's Taemoon Cha, claiming a 15-3 victory with 49 seconds remaining in the third round.

Ashour Zadeh Fallah, winner at Manchester in October, beat Portugal's Rui Braganca and South Korea's world number one Taehun Kim on route to the final.

"I trained hard for this competition and this medal is a good result for me," he said.

In the bronze medal match, reigning world champion Kim beat Germany's Levent Tuncat 13-7.

Iran's Farzan Ashour Zadeh Fallah (centre, left) claimed a 12-point gap victory against South Korea's Taemoon Cha (left) in the under 58kg category final ©WTF



In the men's under 80kg category final, Russia's Albert Gaun registered the only point inside the last 20 seconds of the third round to snatch a 1-0 victory against Iran's Mahdi Khodabakhshi.

Gaun finished runner-up in Suzhou and Manchester earlier this year but went one better this time, beating Germany's Tahir Guelec and Mexico's Uriel Adriano before seeing off Khodabakhshi.

Home favourite Adriano lost 6-5 to Argentina's Sebastian Crismanich in the bronze medal match, much to the disappointment of the lively Mexican supporters.

Day two of the Grand Prix final is due to consist of the women's under 57kg and 67kg categories and the men's under 68kg and 80kg classes.

To access a live stream of all the action, click here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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