Today’s finals belonged to Great Britain and Croatia, with both countries securing two gold medals and a bronze each.

World No 1 Stojkovic (CRO) retained her European Championship title in the Women’s -46kg, with top seed Mikulic securing Gold in the Men K44 -80kg. Mikulic said: “This is my fourth European Championship Gold and I’m so grateful for the support and just to be here. It takes hard work but it’s worth it.”

Stojkovic said: “It’s been so much fun! I listened to my coach, who want to thank and as well as my club, and just tried to stay focussed after two years of crowds not being here. It’s a weird feeling but I enjoyed it so much”.

A delighted home crowd cheered World No1 Sinden onto success in the Men -68kg, beating his Silver in Sofia 2021 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sinden said: “People always talk about me being “Mr Consistent” but I’ve not had the best year, the series of setbacks and injuries have meant I haven’t had much training but I’m confident in my ability to perform every time. The last two years have helped me get back in the zone and remember there’s a job to do. I’ve got a plan and now it’s time to execute it.”

Joseph Lane, after securing his first ever Gold in the Para K44-68kg said: ”This is what I train for – me, my coach, my family. Everyone puts the hard work in – my training academy have pushed me so far. Also thanks to UK Sport and the National Lottery – without them this would never be possible. Including Para Taekwondo with Olympic just shows respect for Great Britain, the medals won yesterday and today just show there is so much more to come.”

Alessio from Italy secured yet another Gold in the Men -80kg and clearly feels that the city holds some magic for him. “Manchester loves me! After my success at the World Championships here two years ago and then winning gold today, it’s a great place for me!”

The Women’s 67kg was the category of surprises. With the World No1 and Olympic Champions Jelic (CRO) going out early, and No 2 Williams (GBR) securing Bronze, the evening rounded off with a thrilling final which went to the wire with a Golden Point Round which ended 0:0. Castro Burgos from Spain was awarded the Win by Superiority against Wiet Henin (FRA) and said: “I was nervous to fight but today was a new game, a new environment and competition can be hard anywhere – I loved every second.”

The results of the finals:

Para Female K44-57kg

1^st – GURDAL (TUR)

2^nd –  MICEV (SRB)

Para Male K44-80kg

1^st – LANE (GBR)

2^nd – TOSHTEMIROV (UZB)

3^rd – NAJERA (MEX)

3^rd –  ATALAY (TUR)

Para Male K44 +80kg

1^st – MIKULIC (CRO)

2^nd – SARAC (TUR)

3^rd – MAKADZE (GEO)

3^rd –  PYLYPIAK (UKR)

OLY Female -46kg

1^st – STOJKOVIC (CRO)

2^nd – GOGEBAKAN (TUR)

3^rd – ZRIHEN (POR)

3^rd – BAYECH (ISR)

OLY Female -67kg

1^st – CASTRO BURGOS (ESP)

2^nd – WIET HENIN (FRA)

3^rd – PERISIC (SRB)

3^rd – WILLIAMS (GBR)

OLY Male -68kg

1^st – SINDEN (GBR)

2^nd – PEREZ POLO (ESP)

3^rd – LUCIEN (FRA)

3^rd – KRIVISHKIY (ISR)

OLY Male -80kg

1^st – ALESSIO (ITA)

2^nd – HRNIC (DEN)

3^rd –  KANAET (CRO)

3^rd – ORDEMANN (NOR)

Top 5 countries by medal standings at the end of day three:

TURKEY – 14 (6 Gold/4Silver/4 Bronze

GREAT BRITAIN – 7 (4 Gold/3 Bronze)

CROATIA – 8 (3 Gold/ 1 Silver/ 4 Bronze)

FRANCE – 8 (2 Gold/ 3 Silver/ 3 Bronze)

GEORGIA – 5 (2 Gold/ 3 Bronze)

-ENDS-

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Event Media Manager Nasima Hussain
E: Nasima@gettheaffect.co.uk M:+44 7887 772131