China's head coach says Walkden's victory a 'scandal' at taekwondo history

MANCHESTER, England - Chinese head coach Guan Jianmin said in Manchester on Friday that Bianca Walkden's controversial victory over Olympic champion Zheng Shuyin at the World Taekwondo Championships is a big scandal in the sport's history.

"I cannot believe this could happen during the world championships," said Guan, also President of the Chinese Taekwondo Federation. "This is the first time I have seen such kind of thing."

Zheng, who had beaten Walkden three times in a row, took a dominant lead of 20-10 in the closing stages of the women's over 73km category final, but the referee disqualified Zheng alleging she had committed 10 fouls during the bout.

Wakden then secured her third successive world taekwondo title by the referee's punitive declaration.

"Our athlete has worked very hard for this gold medal and it was taken away so easily by the referee. This is very dirty."