The inaugural event of the Grand Slam Champions Series, which aims to professionalise and upgrade taekwondo's commercial appeal and media profile, is scheduled to take place here in the Chinese city of Wuxi tomorrow.

Each year, it will consist of eight separate tournaments to represent each Olympic taekwondo weight category - four men's and four women's.

The total prize money offered across the eight separate tournaments in the 2017-2018 series will be $760,000 (£565,000/€637,000).

The winner in each weight category will take home $70,000 (£52,000/€59,000).

The silver and bronze medallists will be awarded $20,000 (£15,000/€17,000) and $5,000 (£3,700/€4,200) respectively.

Wuxi is due to host the series through to 2020 and Choue said yesterday that he hopes it will lead to some other continents, such as Pan America and Europe, hosting other professional events.

Speaking to insidethegames today, he confirmed interest in this regard from Russia and Mexico.

"We have discussed this matter with the Russian Taekwondo Union," Choue said.

"They are very much interested in organising this kind of professional competition along with Mexico City.

"In Mexico, they already have a taekwondo population of more than 2.5 million and they also do team competition between the cities."

He added: "It will really promote our sport if it is agreed to have another professional event in a different continent like Pan America or Europe - that would really support these events."

"Until now, the life cycle of all the taekwondo athletes is very short.

"After competing at a couple of Olympic Games or World Championships, they normally finish.

"But once we have more of these kind of professional competitions, I think the life cycle of athletes will be extended."

Russia's capital Moscow featured on the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Series calendar in 2015 and 2017, and is also due to do so next year before hosting the Final in 2019.

Mexico hosted the Grand Prix Series Final in Querétaro in 2014 and Mexico City in 2015. 

Choue also confirmed today that dates for the 2018-2019 Grand Slam Champions Series will be fixed during this year's edition. 

"We will discuss it while we are here and we’ll finalise next year’s Grand Slam events," he said. 

The two weight categories taking centre stage tomorrow at the Grand Slam Champions Series are the men’s under 80 kilograms and women’s over 67kg.

The other six weight categories will be spread evenly across the following three Saturdays.

A team competition is also scheduled to be held on January 27, concluding the series.