Walkden channelling the Liverpool spirit in bid for world taekwondo gold

Reigning world champion Bianca Walkden says winning her third consecutive title would be as special as watching her beloved Liverpool knock Barcelona out of the Champions League.

Walkden toppled Mexico’s Brisedia Acosta 19-9 to set up a tantalising battle for gold with China’s Shuyin Zheng in the +73kg category, earlier overcoming Uzbekistan’s Svetlana Osipova and Germany’s Lorena Brandl at the Manchester Arena.

The 27-year-old is on the cusp of achieving the unprecedented feat after her gold medals at Chelyabinsk in 2015 and Muju in 2017, but victory in Manchester – a mere 45 minutes from Liverpool – would be the sweetest of them all.

“Winning a third consecutive world title in front of my home crowd would mean as much to me as Liverpool winning against Barcelona did to them the other day,” she said.

“Hopefully I can start it off by winning the World Championships here in Manchester, and then they can go on and win the Champions League in Madrid too!”

Walkden, an avid Liverpool supporter who was at Anfield for their memorable comeback victory last week, had to show a similar level of determination to her Merseyside team throughout the day.

And she took ample inspiration from Jurgen Klopp’s players to go on and reach another final of her own.

“I’ve 100 per cent had to dig deep today - both physically and mentally,” she said.

“Physically, I’ve got so many knocks - I’ve actually got a bad knee. The fact that I’ve got a bad knee and a bad foot makes it a little bit harder, but it makes it even more rewarding after getting through.

“Mentally, it’s always a mental challenge because everyone is trying to take me off the top, even if it’s just by a point or anything.

“I’ve got to try and stay as strong as I can and dig in even more and just take it one round at a time.”

Cheered on by a vociferous home crowd, Walkden made light work of her opening two opponents to progress to the evening session’s semi-finals under the Manchester Arena lights.

And despite her last four triumph over the tenacious Acosta starting cagily, the reigning champion soon settled into her usual rhythm to cruise home by a comfortable margin once again.

“I’m so happy I got through – it was a tough opponent,” she said.

“She’s a Mexican fighter so is always there, giving me a good fight.

“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get through - I changed a few tactics tonight, and it worked and paid off and fingers crossed I can do one more and win the final tomorrow.”

Following her imperious performance on day two of the tournament, Walkden revealed she endured a difficult build-up to this year’s competition owing to a series of injuries.

However, she is confident she’ll be able to put any issues behind her tomorrow evening and get the job done.

“I do have a few injuries so it’s not like I’m 100 per cent at the moment, but I definitely knew I had enough to go out there and give my full performance,” she said.

“I’ve still got one fight left, so fingers crossed I can go out there tomorrow and give it my all again.”