Benidorm, Thursday 2 October 2026

The kick that made an island: Finals Friday in Benidorm

Stand on Levante Beach and look out to sea, you will see a small rocky island floating about three and a half kilometres offshore. Then turn around and look inland at Puig Campana, the mountain that watches over the city. Near its summit there is a gap, as if a piece had been knocked clean out.

The people of Benidorm know why. Long ago, the story goes, a giant lived in these hills. In a moment of grief and fury he kicked the mountain so hard that a chunk of rock flew over the town and landed in the Mediterranean. That rock is L’Illa de Benidorm.

No mountain was moved on Friday, but a giant kick was still seen in Benidorm: Romania’s Andrei Ionut Chiriac kicked to a superhuman height and broke his own World Record. Day 4 of the 10th ITF Taekwon-Do World Cup had other European giants too. Of the 28 World Cup titles decided on Finals Friday, 17 went to clubs from 11 European nations.

A World Record for Romania

The Final Gala brought the moment the arena had been waiting for: the World Record Event in Special Technique. The record holder was already in the hall. At the World Record Event of the 2025 ITF World Championships in Poreč, Croatia, Andrei Ionut Chiriac of Romania had set the first official ITF World Record in the flying high front kick (twimyo nopi ap cha busigi) at 291 cm.

In Benidorm he went higher still. Chiriac cleared the target height, then asked for one more centimetre and kicked the board with ease at 292 cm, breaking his own World Record. A giant kick, in the city of the giant. Huge congratulations to Andrei from all of us at AETF!

It was Chiriac’s second big moment of the day: earlier in Ring 3, competing for ACS Liga de Est – Vaslui, he had won the Male 18–35 Special Technique title.

Ireland and Spain lead the day

Ireland and the host nation Spain were the most successful European nations of the day, with three titles each.

The Irish golds all came from senior athletes. Finn Martin of ITA Ireland 4 won Male 18–35 Sparring up to 57 kg and James Tuite of the Irish Taekwon-Do Association won 63–69 kg, both in finals held on the Gala stage. Jaimie Singletonof ITA Ireland 2 added the Female 18–35 Power Breaking title. Counting the bronzes of Dean Carthy, Joey Shaw and David Croft, Ireland won five medals in the Male 18–35 Dan sparring finals alone.

For Spain, Asoc. Española TKD-ITF won two senior sparring titles: Kabil Bahaa Talhaoui at 57–63 kg, the biggest sparring field of the day with 69 competitors, and Houssame Hatifi Leghraoui over 87 kg. Lucia Castaño Fernandez of Club Taekwon-Do Yong-Gam Molins de Rei won Female 15–17 Pattern 4th–3rd Gup, the club’s second World Cup title of the week after Thursday’s team gold.

First golds for Bulgaria and Latvia

Two European nations celebrated their first gold medal of the week. Georgi Ignatov of the Bulgarian Association of Taekwon-Do won Male 15–17 Pattern 3rd Dan, and Emilija Krivane of the All Latvian Taekwon-Do Federation won Female 18–35 Pattern 2nd–1st Gup.

Patterns: 125 competitors, one Swedish winner

The morning’s junior Pattern finals in Ring 1 included the two biggest categories of the day, each with 125 competitors. Sixten Hultbäck of Frölunda TKD (Sweden) won Male 15–17 1st Dan. Oliver Molnar of Londinium Fighters Association (England) took Male 15–17 2nd Dan, and Riccardo Manca of Taekwon-Do Sardegna (Italy) won Male 15–17 4th–3rd Gup.

Norway, England, Scotland and Israel

David Stige of Bergen TKD (Norway) won Male 18–35 Sparring 81–87 kg, and Ingvild Landmark and Kai Saxrud of Røyken TKD added Team 46+ Pre-Arranged Sparring for Norway. England’s second title of the day came from Alarico Bustamante III of AETA in Male 36–45 Special Technique 4th–1st Gup, his second gold of the week. Grace Conway of Braveheart Martial Arts (Scotland) won Female 12–14 Special Technique after three rounds of tie-breaks, also her second gold of the week after Thursday’s sparring title. On the Gala stage, Diana Manzhos of the Taekwon-Do ITF Israeli Center won the Female 18–35 Sparring 50–55 kg final.

Around the rest of the World Cup

Outside Europe, Argentina won six titles, among them Female 15–17 Pattern 1st Dan for Jazmin Racca Samaniego and two team golds. Canada’s Sean O’Neil of Performance Taekwon-Do was the athlete of the day, winning both Male 18–35 Pattern 4th–6th Dan and Male 18–35 Sparring 69–75 kg.

The Final Gala

In the early evening, shortly after five, the arena turned into a stage. After a welcome from Master Paco Ferrando of Taekwon-Do ITF España and the Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, four World Cup finals were decided in front of the Gala audience, three of them won by European clubs: James Tuite and Finn Martin of Ireland and Diana Manzhos of Israel. Alongside the World Record, ITF President GM Paul Weiler and Secretary General GM Tadeusz Łoboda presented ITF acknowledgements to Master Francisco Ferrando, Master José Luis Diego Bas, GM Juan Ferrando Savall and Jesús Castellanos, President of the Real Federación Española de Taekwondo. Guests from Spanish and international taekwondo and the ITF Board members present were also recognised on stage, and Sbn. Silvio Gamboa and Sbn. Rodrigo Gozzano of Argentina closed the Gala with a traditional pre-arranged sparring demonstration.

Day 4 in numbers

• 28 titles decided, 17 of them (60.7%) won by clubs from 11 European nations
• 1 World Record broken in Special Technique by a Romanian athlete at the Final Gala
• 2 European nations, Bulgaria and Latvia, won their first gold of the week
• 125 competitors in each of the two biggest categories, Male and Female 15–17 Pattern 1st Dan
• After four days: 120 of 188 titles (63.8%) and 465 of 723 medals (64.3%) for European clubs; 28 European nations have won a medal, 23 of them gold

Medal table after four days

Ranked by gold, then silver and bronze.

Nine of the top ten nations are European. Five more European nations have reached the podium but are still waiting for their first gold: Andorra, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Slovakia and Switzerland. Saturday, the final day, brings the last sparring finals and the Closing Ceremony, and one more chance.

Tomorrow: the last sparring rings and the Closing Ceremony. Every ring is streamed live, and the links are in our morning post.

Day 4 European gold medallists

By nation, in descending order of gold medals. Names as in the official results list, surname first; the flag shows the club’s country.

🇮🇪 Ireland – 3

• Martin Finn – ITA Ireland 4 – Male 18–35 Sparring 1st–6th Dan up to 57 kg
• Singleton Jaimie – ITA Ireland 2 – Female 18–35 Power Breaking 1st–6th Dan
• Tuite James – Irish Taekwon-Do Association – Male 18–35 Sparring 1st–6th Dan 63–69 kg

🇪🇸 Spain – 3

• Castaño Fernandez Lucia – Club Taekwon-Do Yong-Gam Molins de Rei – Female 15–17 Pattern 4th–3rd Gup
• Hatifi Leghraoui Houssame – Asoc. Española TKD-ITF – Male 18–35 Sparring 1st–6th Dan over 87 kg
• Talhaoui Kabil Bahaa – Asoc. Española TKD-ITF – Male 18–35 Sparring 1st–6th Dan 57–63 kg

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England – 2

• Bustamante Alarico III – AETA – Male 36–45 Special Technique 4th–1st Gup
• Molnar Oliver – Londinium Fighters Association – Male 15–17 Pattern 2nd Dan

🇳🇴 Norway – 2

• Røyken TKD (Landmark Ingvild, Saxrud Kai) – Team 46+ Pre-Arranged Sparring 1st–6th Dan
• Stige David – Bergen TKD – Male 18–35 Sparring 1st–6th Dan 81–87 kg

🇧🇬 Bulgaria – 1

• Ignatov Georgi – Bulgarian Association of Taekwon-Do – Male 15–17 Pattern 3rd Dan

🇮🇱 Israel – 1

• Manzhos Diana – Taekwon-Do ITF Israeli Center – Female 18–35 Sparring 1st–6th Dan 50–55 kg

🇮🇹 Italy – 1

• Manca Riccardo – Taekwon-Do Sardegna – Male 15–17 Pattern 4th–3rd Gup

🇱🇻 Latvia – 1

• Krivane Emilija – All Latvian Taekwon-Do Federation – Female 18–35 Pattern 2nd–1st Gup

🇷🇴 Romania – 1

• Chiriac Andrei Ionut – ACS Liga de Est – Vaslui – Male 18–35 Special Technique 1st–6th Dan

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland – 1

• Conway Grace – Braveheart Martial Arts – Female 12–14 Special Technique 1st–3rd Dan

🇸🇪 Sweden – 1

• Hultbäck Sixten – Frölunda TKD – Male 15–17 Pattern 1st DanOfficial results: sportdata.org – 10th ITF Taekwon-Do World Cup 2026