Ivory Coast's Cheick Sallah Cisse claimed a shock gold in the men's under 80 kilograms category with victory over Aaron Cook of Moldova ©WTF

Ivory Coast's Cheick Sallah Cisse claimed a surprise gold medal  in the men’s under 80 kilograms category on another dramatic day at the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Grand Prix Series 1 in Moscow.

Cisse, ranked number 23 in the world, proved too strong for Aaron Cook, the Briton now competing under Moldova's flag, as he sealed an 11-4 victory to top the podium and hand his country an unexpected victory.

The Ivorian managed to hold off the challenge of Cook, one of the sport’s most talked about athletes following his decision to compete for Moldova after he was left out of the British team at London 2012, as he attempted to use his trademark spinning kicks.

Cisse had beaten Olympic bronze medallist Lutalo Muhammad, selected by Britain ahead of Cook for London 2012, in the quarter-final.

He was then due to face two-time Olympic champion Steven Lopez of the United States in the semi-final but the American withdrew due to injury and had to settle for bronze along with Mali's Ismael Coulibaly.

Two-time world champion Kim So-hui took gold in the women's under 49kg category by beating Zhaoyi Li of China
South Korea's two-time world champion Kim So-hui won the women's under 49kg, beating China's Zhaoyi Li ©Getty Images


Current world champion and Incheon 2014 Asian Games gold medallist Farzan Ashour Zadeh Fallah of Iran continued his dominance of the men’s under 58kg division, claiming a hard-fought win over Mexico’s Carlos Navarro in the final.

The contest was evenly matched for large periods in what was an entertaining bout before the Iranian pulled away in the final round to win 8-5.

The bronze medals in the division went to Germany's Levent Tuncat and South Korea's Kim Tae-hun.

In the other weight category to take place today, two-time world champion Kim So-hui of South Korea ensured she topped the podium in the women’s under 49kg with a narrow 3-2 success against China’s Zhaoyi Li.

Both players went toe-to-toe in an evenly-matched tactical final but it was Kim who placed her kicks better and sealed a tense victory, despite a late rally from Li.

Turkey's Rukiye Yildirim and Serbia's Tijana Bogdanovic rounded off the podium as both took home bronze.

The event in Moscow, the first Grand Prix of the season, is due conclude tomorrow with the women’s under 57kg and the men’s under 68kg weight categories.


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