Taekwondo kicked off at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with the women’s 49kg category. After a series of competitive matches, World No. 1 Panipak Wongpattanakit displayed her dominance by clinching her first Olympic gold medal.

The Thai athlete defeated Spain’s Adriana Cerezo Iglesias to secure her country’s first gold medal in Tokyo. Abishag Semberg of Israel and Tijana Bogdanovic of Serbia secured the two bronze medals in the category.

Wongpattanakit edges Iglesias to taste gold in Taekwondo at Tokyo Olympics 2020

During the day, Wongpattanakit won her matches before the final in convincing fashion. In fact, she didn’t score lower than 20 points in the three matches she contested before reaching the final.

While she scored over 30 points in just one match, Iglesias did so in two. The Spaniard won two out of her three matches, heading to the final because of the points gap to her opponent instead of the final score. This set up an exciting clash between the World No. 23 and the World No. 1.

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Despite the difference in world rankings, their contest stole the show in the category. While they traded several effective shots, neither could take proper control of the match. Ultimately, the Thai won by the narrowest of margins, with the final score 11-10.

Although Iglesias clinched silver, she put on an excellent display under the lights at just 17 years old. One can expect the Spaniard to rise in the world rankings after a superb Olympic performance.

Semberg becomes Israel’s youngest ever Olympic medalist

Israeli athlete Abishag Semberg arguably had the longest day of all taekwondo athletes today. However, the 19-year-old didn’t disappoint as she fought her way to win a bronze medal in Tokyo. Despite losing to Panipak in the Round of 16, she delivered a strong performance in the repechage to make the bronze medal match, where she defeated Turkey’s Rukiye Yildirim.

In addition, she became Israel’s youngest Olympic medalist by taking Bronze in Tokyo.

Although she clinched a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Bogdanovic had to settle for Bronze in Tokyo. The World No. 5 lost to Iglesias in the Round of 16, but made a recovery of her own to win her bronze medal match against Japan’s Miyu Yamada.

READ MORE: Tokyo Olympics 2020 Day 1 Judo Results: Tears Flow as Distria Krasniqi Snatches Women?s 48kg Category From Japan in the Last 20 Seconds