With 461 poomsae athletes descending on the Olympic Gymnasium over the four-day competition, the Koreans burst out the blocks, picking up gold in the male individual under 60 division, male individual cadet division and female individual cadet division.

Prior to finals taking place, World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) President Chungwon Choue made a congratulatory speech to Carlos Lozano de la Torre, Governor of the Aguascalientes State, and Juan Manuel Lopez Delgado, President of the Mexican Taekwondo Federation, as well as the near 500 athletes who had made the trip to Mexico.

"Since its inauguration, the WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships have been held every year with significant growth in the number of participants and quality of performances," he said.

"Especially, newly introduced freestyle poomsae showcased the artistic aspects of taekwondo.

"I hope that more dynamic performances will be displayed at this Championship."

"I have full confidence in organising the best World Poomsae Championships ever because we are in Mexico - the country that people love taekwondo."

Hyung-jun Noh secured gold for South Korea in the male individual under 60 division ©WTF



Hyung-jun Noh got the ball rolling for Korea as he took home gold in the male individual under 60 division ahead of Oscar Mendiola Cruz, while Turkey's Teyfik Celik and the Netherlands' Ata Alavi secured the two bronze medals.

Jin-ho Shin added gold number two for the Taekwondo powerhouses as he bested Denmark's Nikolai Kronborg, who took silver, and Jose Emilio Jaramillo Moreno of Turkey and Kyle Tanimura of United States, each of whom won bronze, in the male individual cadet division.

The hat trick was completed by Su-yeong Choi as she took top honours in the female individual cadet category.

Justina Yu secured silver for Canada in this contest, while Mexico's Sofia Sepulveda and Vietnam's Thi Kim Ha Nguyen were left to settle for bronze.

A gold apiece was also collected by hosts Mexico, Vietnam, the United States, the Philippines, Turkey and China.

Mexico's gold came in the pair under 30 division with Mexico's duo sending the crowds into raptures as they got the better of Chinese Taipei in second.

Vietnam and United States were the recipients of the two bronze medals.

Chinese Taipei were left to settle for silver again in the male team over 30 category as the trio from the Philippines grabbed gold.

Bronze went to Mexico and Turkey.

It was smoother sailing for Turkey in the male individual under 50 category where Mustafa Yilmaz got his hands on the gold medal.

Korea's Hyeon-ju Oh won the silver with Germany's Michael Bussmann and Mexico's Salvador Carrillo taking bronze.

In the freestyle female individual over 17 category, the United States' Adalis Munoz earned her country the gold medal, while Russia's Yulia Popova took the silver medal.

The bronze went to Vietnam's Thi Thuy Dung Ngo and Peru's Winnie Yi Wu Acuy

In the freestyle pair under 17 division, China's Ming Da Hu and Meng Yue Wei teamed up to win.

Vietnam's Dinh Khoi Nguyen and Thi Mong Quynih Nguyen grabbed the silver medal.

Local favourites Jose Reyes and Ibanez Ana Zulema, and Russia's Mikhail Pustovit and Anastasiya Karnovich shared the bronze medal.

Competition continues in Mexico tomorrow with nine more gold medals up for grabs.

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