Despite Europe already qualifying 24 of the 34 athletes to Tokyo through the international rankings, some of the best fighters yet to earn Paralympic places come from that continent.

There are 26 athletes from 15 countries, including 10 new competitors that could yet surprise their higher-seeded opponents.

K43 athletes will join their K44 counterparts in six divisions, with draws ranging in size from two to eight fighters.

Among those yet to confirm their Tokyo places are three-time world champion Aynur Mammadova of Azerbaijan in the women’s over-58kg class.

"I am very well prepared for this," she told World Para Taekwondo. "I am strong, I am No. 1 in the rankings [seeding] … (and) I believe in myself."

Two-time World Championship medallist Matti Sairanen of Finland is another top talent close to securing his place in the men’s under-61kg category.

The biggest name in para-taekwondo that has yet to qualify for the Paralympic Games is Britain’s reigning world champion in the men’s over-75kg class, Matt Bush.

Ranked number six in the world, the hulking Welshman has reached four international podiums since 2018.

But in what is expected to be one of the most difficult qualifying groups in Bulgaria he will need to get by foes like Germany’s Hasim Celik, who won bronze at the 2019 World Championships.

Meanwhile Japan’s Shoko Ota, a double winter Paralympic medallist in cross-country skiing, is seeking to earn a summer Paralympic place having won world bronze in 2019 after taking up the sport seriously in 2018.

For these fighters, the European Paralympic Qualification tournament represents the final hurdle to cross to join the sport at its Paralympic debut.

Meanwhile in Olympic competition eight countries earned qualifying places on the first day of European Qualifying in Sofia after their fighters reached their respective finals.

Adriana Cerezo of Spain and Abishag Semberg of Israel were finalists in the women’s under-49 kilograms class.

In the women’s under-67kg class France’s Magda Wiet-Henin and Azerbaijan’s Farida Azizova were successful.

The men’s under-58kg final was reached by Portugal’s Rui Braganca and Omar Gergely Salim of Hungary, while the finalists in the men’s under-80kg class were Richard Ordemann of Norway and Italy’s 21-year-old world champion Simone Alessio.

The second day of competition saw medals awarded in four categories.

In the men's under-80kg category, golds went to Dejan Georgievski of Macedonia and Ivan Sapina of Croatia, with the bronze medal being won by Emre Kutalmis Atesli of Turkey.

In the women's under-67kg category, the gold medals went to Althea Laurin of France and Reshmie Oogink of The Netherlands, with the bronze medal being awarded to Lorena Brandl of Germany.

The men's under-68kg category saw golds go to Hakan Recber of Turkey and Nedzad Husic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the bronze medal going to Vladimir Dalakliev of Bulgaria.

Finally, in the women's under-57kg category, gold medals were awarded to Fani Tzeli of Greece and Patrycja Adamkiewicz of Poland while the bronze went to Kimia Alizadeh of Iran.