Best foot forward: Nguyen Dinh Toan (right) and Nguyen Minh Tu on their way to winning a silver medal in the mixed-pairs U20 category at the World Teakwondo Poomsae Championships which wrapped up in Columbia on Monday. — Photo giaoduc.net.vn

HA NOI (VNS)— Viet Nam won a gold medal at the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships which wrapped up in Colombia on Monday.

The squad of five pocketed their title in the free-style event with a total of 7,970 points.

The Philippines ranked second with 270 points less. China, one of the title favourites, were third, on 7,670 points.

However in the other final later, champions Nguyen Dinh Toan and Nguyen Minh Tu failed to defend their crown, finishing second in the mixed-pairs under-20 category.

Toan and Tu took the lead in the group round and entered the final as the strongest pair. They scored 7,520 points. However their performance was not as successful as Qiao Zhi and Quan Xue Yan from China who earned 7,535 points to take the gold medal. Toan and Tu were left with silver.

World champion Toan also failed to shine at the men's single event as he ranked fifth overall.

With one gold, six silver and one bronze medals Viet Nam came sixth out of 21 teams. Coach Le Minh Khuong shared Best Coach title with South Korean Jae Jin Kang.

South Korea proved their No 1 with eight golds, two silvers and one bronze. They were followed by Iran who bagged two golds, three silvers and three bronzes and the US with two golds, one silver and one bronze.

The result was a disappointment for Viet Nam which had targeted at least three gold medals, as they did last year. — VNS