WUXI, China, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Zhou Zeqi claimed China's third bronze medal at the World Taekwondo Championships in the women's 73kg category on Sunday, as Egypt, Belgium and South Korea shared the day's gold medals.

In the women's 73kg semifinals, the 26-year-old Zhou faced Belgium's 20-year-old Sarah Chaari, who went on to win gold.

Zhou attempted several high kicks in the opening round but failed to score, and Chaari was awarded the first round on points advantage after a 0-0 stalemate. In the second round, Chaari struck first with two mid-level kicks, but Zhou responded with consecutive head kicks to take the lead. In the closing seconds, Chaari landed a turning mid-kick to edge a 7-6 victory, ending Zhou's run.

"I didn't execute well at the beginning, and my opponent caught me on some small details," Zhou said after the match. "But the biggest gain for me was finding my own rhythm again."

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Chaari competed in the 67kg category and won bronze, while Zhou's campaign in the +67kg division ended in the quarterfinals. The bronze in Wuxi, however, gave Zhou renewed confidence and marked her best performance at the World Championships after two previous round-of-16 finishes.

In today's three finals, Chaari defeated Cote d'Ivoire's Kimi Laurene Ossin 2-1 to win the women's 73kg title, Egypt's Seif Eissa edged Italy's Simone Alessio 2-1 to secure the men's 87kg crown, and South Korea's Seo Eun-su tamed Türkiye's Furkan Ubeyde Camoglu 2-0 in the men's 54kg final.

The championships resume on Monday with finals in the men's 80kg, women's 46kg and women's +73kg divisions. ■