France’s Magda Wiet-Hénin earned a first Olympic taekwondo appearance by reaching the women's under-67kg final at the European Qualifier in Sofia tonight ©Getty Images

France’s Magda Wiet-Hénin and Italy’s world champion Simone Alessio were among those earning places in the Tokyo 2020 taekwondo competition tonight at the European Qualification Tournament in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.

For the 120 athletes competing in this Taekwondo Europe event, from 39 countries, reaching the final is the pathway to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, with two qualifiers going forward in each of the categories.

The 25-year-old Wiet-Hénin, who won bronze in the women’s lightweight category when the last Championships were held in Manchester two years ago, secured her first Olympic appearance by reaching the under-67 kilograms final.

The top seeded French athlete came through a tight semi-final 6-5 against Rebeka Furedi of Hungary and will now face Azerbaijan’s Azizova in the final.

The French fighter had an easier time of it in her first two rounds, beating Norway’s Mari Nilsen 16-3 and Indra Craen of Belgium 23-4.

"I am super relieved, happy and happy, finally the pressure is falling," Wiet-Hénin told L'Equipe.

"I want to share my joy with family and friends - I will finally be able to sleep better, free for 10 days, no longer think about taekwondo.

"I need to rest my head and my body.

 "During the decisive fight, I led by one point in the last seconds, I changed the guard to block her, it was intense, but the experience made the difference, the mind too."

Italy's world champion in the men's under-67kg category, Simone Alessio, has earned his first Olympic appearance after reaching the final at the European qualifiers in Sofia ©Getty Images
Italy's world champion in the men's under-67kg category, Simone Alessio, has earned his first Olympic appearance after reaching the final at the European qualifiers in Sofia ©Getty Images

Alessio, 21, also earned his first Olympic appearance after reaching the men’s under-80kg final.

"It's incredible, I have no words to describe these emotions, I'll go to the Olympics," Alessio told gazzetta.it

"It’s a daydream."

Alessio got off to a great start, beating Macedonian Filip Dodevski 10-9 in the first round, and continued his run by winning 3-0 against Belgian Nicholas Corten in the golden round, after the first three rounds ended 3-3.

He then dominated his semi-final against Germany’s Tahir Guelec.

Team-mates Maristella Smiraglia, in the women’s +67kg, and Paulina Armeria Vecchi in the -57kg will seek to join him tomorrow.

While there was joy for Wiet-Hénin there was frustration for her 18-year-old compatriot Cyrian Ravet in the men’s under-58kg category.

The double European champion easily beat Israel’s Tom Pashcovsky 29-9 and then Finland’s Niko Saarinen 30-10, but he was unable to get past Hungary’s Omar Gergely Salim, European champion in the under-54kg category, losing his semi-final 37-12.