Jaouad Achab Taekwondo World Champion

05/06/2015

The Belgian Jaouad Achab won the world title at the Taekwondo World Championships in Russia in the Men's 63 kg category. He beat the Spaniard, Gonzalez Bonilla, the reigning Olympic champion in the final.

Earlier in the day, Jaouad Achab had beaten the Iranian, Abolfazl Yaghoubi in the semi-final. The previous day, he had successfully defeated the Bulgarian, Daniel Turnov (10-8), the Uruguayan, Federico Gonzalez (16-1), the Taiwanese, Cheng Ching Huang (18-4) and the Frenchman, Stevens Barclais (24-12).

This puts the Belgian in a particularly favourable position for the forthcoming Olympic Games. These will be held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Indeed, Achab is currently 6th in the World Olympic ranking in the Men's 68 kg category and only the first six athletes will travel to Rio.