A total of four athletes represented Pakistan at the event that was staged from May 29 to June 4 in the Azerbaijani capital.

Haroon Khan was the best performer for Pakistan as he reached the last-16 of the men’s under-58 kilograms division.

He secured victories over Uros Belanvoic of Serbia and Mustafa Mansour of Egypt before falling to eventual silver medallist Georgii Gurtsiev, a Belarusian competing as an individual neutral athlete.

Arbaz Khan was another winner for Pakistan as he overcame Severin Ndong Obamme of The Gambia before losing to Lovre Brečić of Croatia in the round-of-32 of the men’s under-63kg category.

There was disappointment for Shahzaib Khan who lost against Belarusian neutral Yahor Kazlou in a tight men’s under-54kg clash.

Hamza Saeed started his campaign with a victory over Petros Andreou of Cyprus in the men’s over-87kg category but was beaten by Ruslon Zhaparov of Kazakhstan in the next round.

Karami said he was pleased to see his fighters register victories on the world stage.

"Our players showcased good performances in the event but they can surely do better with the potential in them," Karami told Pakistani newspaper The Nation.

"Coming up against world-ranking players and giving tough competition is a good sign for the future of taekwondo in Pakistan as such events boost your morale and experience to take on some of the best athletes."

Karami, an Olympic bronze medallist with Iran, has been head of the Pakistan national team since his appointment in April last year.

The Iranian’s career highlights include a bronze in the men’s 80kg category at Athens 2004, as well as world titles in 2003 and 2011, while he was also crowned Asian Games champion at Doha 2006 and Guangzhou 2010.