By Daniel Etchells at Queretaro Convention Centre

South Korea's Daehoon Lee (right) and Great Britain's Jade Jones (third from left) were crowned WTF Male and Female Players of the Year respectively ©WTFSouth Korea's Daehoon Lee and Great Britain's Jade Jones were crowned Male and Female Players of the Year at the inaugural World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Gala Awards Dinner here tonight.

Lee, a two-time world champion and London 2012 Olympic silver medallist, was victorious in the under 68 kilogram category at the Suzhou Grand Prix in July and the Manchester Grand Prix in October. 

The world number one saw off the challenge of compatriots Taehun Kim and Dongmin Cha, Iran's Farzan Ashour Zadeh Fallah, Russian duo Alexey Denisenko and Albert Gaun, the Isle of Man's Aaron Cook and France's M'bar N'Diaye, all of whom were also nominated.

He received 30 of the 105 votes casted to finish five points clear of Cook in second and 14 points ahead of Ashour Zadeh Fallah in third.

"Thank you very much, I am very happy to stand here," said Lee in his acceptance speech.

"I will keep doing my best.

"Muchas gracias."

Daehoon Lee (right) receives his award from WTF President Chungwon Choue (left) ©WTFDaehoon Lee (right) receives his award from WTF President Chungwon Choue (left) ©WTF



Jones, the London 2012 Olympic champion, ranked world number two in the under 57kg category, bounced back from gold medal match defeats against Spain's Eva Calvo Gomez at the Astana Grand Prix in August and the Manchester Grand Prix two months later to beat her rival here at the Grand Prix final.

The Briton fended off competiton from Calvo Gomez, Croatia's Lucija Zaninovic, French pair Yasmina Aziez and Haby Niare, Sweden's Elin Johansson, Serbia's Milica Mandic and Mexico's Briseida Acosta Balarezo, receiving 29 of the 105 votes casted. 

Second-placed Acosta Balarezo received 12 votes fewer, while Mandic finished third with 15 nominations.

"I am really honoured to accept this award," said Jones.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone that voted for me and a special big thank you to everybody at GB Taekwondo and my amazing coach Paul Green."

Jade Jones received her award the day after beating Spain's Eva Calvo Gomez in the under 57kg category at the Grand Prix final ©WTF Jade Jones received her award the day after beating Spain's Eva Calvo Gomez in the under 57kg category at the Grand Prix final ©WTF



Elsewhere, Mexico was named the National Association of the Year, Puerto Rico's Neydis Tavarez was awarded the Referee of the Year accolade, and South Korea's Young-in Bang, head coach of the Mexican national team since 1998, Coach of the Year.

"This is the first time for the WTF to recognise our top athletes, coaches and member national associations," said WTF President Chungwon Choue.

"We just celebrated the 40th anniversary of the WTF last year.

"This has taken us 40 years."

The Gala Awards Dinner was the brain child of Juan Manuel Lopez Delgado, President of the Mexican Taekwondo Federation, who was presented with a plaque of appreciation by Choue.

The players and coach awards were voted for by dinner attendees, while the national association and referee awards were chosen by a five-member Nomination Committee.

The WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships begin tomorrow.

The two-day competition features eight male and eight female teams battling for gold medals.

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

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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