The two-day event, held at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester earlier this month, attracted a total of 295 athletes with more than 20 nations represented.

A refugee athlete also took part in a competition which also saw the presence of 128 officials and coaches.

"After a 12 year break it was fantastic to see a British International Open back on the calendar and to see many happy faces enjoying a high-quality competition at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester," Ian Leafe, the chief executive of British Taekwondo, said.

"Great Britain has an unrivalled reputation for putting on world-class events, and our domestic Nationals competitions are getting bigger and bigger every year in terms of numbers, so it's brilliant that we now have an international open event that bridges the gap between the two, giving our aspiring athletes experience of an international-level event themselves."

Leafe admitted that staging an international event had taken a lot of planning for British Taekwondo, the parent body of GB Taekwondo, who are responsible for the elite side of the sport. 

"It can be a complex process to navigate - with world level coach and referee qualifications needed, and stricter rules around weigh ins and random weigh ins, and it can be a bit of a learning curve for some who are maybe not used to international level events - hopefully, this is all good experience for the future," he said.

"We aim to make the British International Open a regular fixture on the international calendar and are already looking at dates for early 2024, so look out for that, and we would ask all our clubs and coaches that do travel the international circuit to start planting the seeds with overseas teams and the European community especially.

"We want to make the British International Open one of the flagship competitions on the European circuit in years to come and need everyone’s help to do that.

"Thank you again to everyone that supported the event."

The British International Open, sanctioned by World Taekwondo and promoted by the European Taekwondo Union, saw competitions in a range of events.

These included Kyorugi divisions, which held G1 status for World Taekwondo rankings, on July 1 and was followed the next day by cadet and junior divisions which were eligible for E1 status in the European Taekwondo Union lists.

Matt Marshall, events manager at British Taekwondo said: "The British International Open kicked off the British Taekwondo event calendar for 2023 and it was excellent to see so many of our combat sport clubs in action at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester.

“Although small in numbers, it was an important step to take in the delivery of the British Taekwondo strategy.

"The British International Open provided British athletes with the opportunity to gain World and European ranking points on home soil, to gain competition experience against international teams, and to learn and gain familiarity with the way international events are run.

"We are in discussions with World Taekwondo and the National Cycling Centre about the best dates to host the 2024 British International Open and will be sharing an update very soon."