South Korea's national taekwondo team has received an encouraging signal ahead of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Moon Jin-ho of Korea National Sport University and Song Da-bin of the Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Council both claimed gold at the 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix, extending their momentum toward Asian Games medals.
Moon defeated Marko Golubic of Croatia 2-0 in rounds in the men's 68-kilogram final at the T1 arena of Taekwondowon in Muju, North Jeolla Province, on the 7th, at the Muju Taekwondowon 2026 World Taekwondo Grand Prix.
Moon's offense stood out from the opening round. After a period of feeling out his opponent, he landed a right-foot head kick for three points and took the round 7-0 with a body attack and penalty points against Golubic. He pressed harder in the second round, scoring two points with a side kick from the start, then countering with a turning kick after evading Golubic's downward kick. He sealed the win with a head kick late in the bout.
Last year, Moon won the Fujairah Open, the Wuxi Grand Slam Challenge and the Bangkok Grand Prix Challenge in succession, and took silver at the under-21 world championships in Nairobi. This year, he won the Asian championships in Ulaanbaatar in May and the Korea Open in Chuncheon in July before adding the Muju Grand Prix title.
"I prepared desperately because I wanted to win, and I think what I prepared came out well in the ring," Moon said after the match. "I will carry this momentum, prepare hard and win the Asian Games."
In the women's over-67-kilogram division, Song came from behind to take gold, beating Anastasiia Kosmicheva, competing as an individual neutral athlete (AIN), 2-1 in rounds in the final.
Song had lost 0-2 to Kosmicheva in the final of last year's Muju Grand Prix Challenge, settling for silver, but avenged that defeat when the two met again at the same venue a year later. It was also her first regular Grand Prix title.
Song dropped the first round 7-9 but won a fierce exchange in the second 11-10 to level the match. Trailing 5-7 in the third round, she landed a body attack and a head attack in succession with 12 seconds left and drew a penalty against her opponent to come back and win 12-7.
"There were difficult moments during the match because of an ankle injury," Song said. "I lost to Kosmicheva at last year's Muju Grand Prix Challenge, so I really wanted to beat her this time. I am overwhelmed to have won." She added, "With the boost from this tournament, I will win the Asian Games."
