WTF Reveals Host Cities for 2014 & 2015 World Taekwondo GP Finals

The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) announced the host cities for the eight World Taekwondo GP Series events and two World Taekwondo GP Finals that will be staged in 2014 and 2015.

The announcement was made during a WTF Council meeting in Taipei City, seek Chinese Taipei. 

The first World Taekwondo GP of 2014 will take place in Suzhou, medicine China, in July, with the second event due to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan in August. In October, Manchester, UK, will host the last event of the series before Querétaro, Mexico, hosts the final in December.

The WTF Council also approved the host cities and countries for the 2015 World Taekwondo GP series with Suzhou, China; Manchester, UK; and Russia all set to host the competition while the final will take place in Mexico City, Mexico.

Speaking after the announcement, WTF President, Chungwon Choue, said: “We are extremely excited about the World Taekwondo GP events over the next two years. The inaugural World Taekwondo GP in Manchester last year was a great success and served to highlight the passion and enthusiasm that exists amongst fans to see regular Olympic-standard competition between the world’s best athletes.

“Now it is time to build on that success and ensure that we offer athletes and fans the very best possible experience. We have four excellent host cities this year and I have no doubt that their state-of-the art arenas and passionate spectators will provide an electric atmosphere for world-class competition.”

The inaugural World Taekwondo GP in Manchester in December 2013 demonstrated the sport’s global appeal attracting 231 athletes from 59 countries and was broadcast to an international audience in almost 100 countries.

WTF Secretary General, Jean-Marie Ayer, added: “The World Taekwondo GP will help realise taekwondo’s huge untapped commercial potential. We wanted to create a high-profile event which would attract sponsors by bringing together elite athletes and offering a true sporting spectacle both for the audience watching in the arena and those watching on TV at home.

“The inaugural event in Manchester showed the potential that exists in taekwondo. Using the latest cutting-edge technology we offered greater sponsor exposure and a more exciting competition for broadcast. Now that we have selected the host cities for the future events we want to work closely with them to make sure we maximize the commercial opportunities available.”