The 17th Asian Taekwondo Championships opened Friday in Bangkok, Thailand, with 34 nations competing.

To run through Sunday, the tournament will feature top-ranked South Korea vie in eight weight classes for men and women.

Thailand hopes to win at least one gold medal in the tournament to keep its world ranking of fifth. The martial art was voted the country's third most popular sport and saw the number of Thai practionners double to 150,000 in just 18 months.

The South Korean coach of the Thai national team is Choi Young-seok, whose competitor Yaowapa Burapolchai made history in 2004 as the first Thai to win an Olympic medal in taekwondo.