China's Chen Ximin (rright) competes against Viviana Marton of Hungary during the women's 62kg semifinal at the 2025 World Taekwondo Championships in Wuxi city, East China's Jiangsu province, on Oct 29, 2025. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Host China concluded its campaign at the World Taekwondo Championships on Thursday, as 20-year-old Zhang Chuling claimed a bronze medal in the women's 53kg event, bringing the team's final tally to one silver and eight bronze medals.

In the women's 53kg semifinal, Zhang, this year's national champion, lost 2-0 to Saudi Arabia's Dunya Ali M. Abutaleb. Zhang conceded the first round 2-0 after her opponent scored with a mid-level kick.

In the second, despite stepping up her attacks, Zhang was caught by a high kick and dropped the round again, ending her campaign with a bronze medal.

"I think I didn't give my opponent enough pressure," said Zhang after the match. "It was my first time facing so many top international athletes, so I did feel some nerves. I still need to improve my ability to handle fast-paced exchanges."

Türkiye's Merve Dincel Kavurat clinched the gold in the women's 53kg category, while Abutaleb took silver and Egypt's Jana Khattab shared the bronze with Zhang.

In the final bout of the championships, Uzbekistan's Najmiddin Kosimkhojiev defeated Brazil's Edival Pontes to capture the men's 74kg title. Individual Neutral Athlete Magomed Abdusalamov and Iran's Amir Sina Bakhtiari shared bronze.

Türkiye topped the medal table with three golds, two silvers, and one bronze, followed by South Korea and Brazil. China ranked 13th but claimed the highest total number of medals.

China fielded a 16-member team, eight men and eight women, with 12 athletes making their World Championships debut. The squad reached the podium in nine weight categories. Among them, five bronze medalists were born after 2005, highlighting the rise of young talents.