South Korea's Sim Jae-young will compete in tomorrow's under-46kg final at Manchester Arena ©World Taekwondo

South Korea's defending champion Sim Jae-young won all three of her bouts on the opening day of the World Taekwondo Championships to reach the women's under-46 kilograms final here. 

Sim first beat Krystsina Sauluk of Belarus 25-3, before progressing on to the quarter-final after defeating Brazil's Valeria Santos 23-8. 

To make the semi-finals she had to come back against Spain's Sara Cortegoso Lima, but then eased past Julanan Khantikulanon 25-13 to make the final.

Her opponent is scheduled to be Iran's Mahla Momenzadeh, who recorded a close 11-9 victory over China's Tan Xueqin.

In the women's under-73kg semi-finals, two-time Asian Games champion Lee Da-bin won 15-10 against France's Marie Paule Ble. 

Ble had already knocked out the defending champion, Serbia's Milica Mandić, in the previous round. 

China's Jang Jun comfortably beat Argentina's Lucas Guzman 14-3 to progress to the men's under-58kg final ©ITG
China's Jang Jun comfortably beat Argentina's Lucas Guzman 14-3 to progress to the men's under-58kg final ©ITG

Lee is set to face María Espinoza in the final after the Mexican beat Turkey's Nafia Kuş 6-4. 

Jang Jun and Brandon Plaza Hernandez are due meet in the final in the men's under-58kg. 

The Chinese athlete was comfortable against Argentina's Lucas Guzman, winning 14-3.

Mexico's Hernandez landed a head shot in the dying seconds of his bout against Portugal's Rui Braganca to triumph 16-13. 

The finals are scheduled take place here tomorrow.

Preceding the gold-medal bouts will be the qualifying rounds and semi-finals of the women's over-73kg and men's under-54kg and under-68kg categories.