World Taekwondo Championships day 1, get underway in Manchester
MANCHESTER, UK (May 15, 2019) – The Manchester 2019 World Taekwondo Championships got underway today with a spectacular opening ceremony and breath-taking semi-final matches which saw Iran, Korea and Mexico progress to tomorrow’s finals.
A record 927 athletes from 145 countries plus 1 refugee team are registered to compete at this year’s Championships making it the largest by numbers in the sport’s history.
The opening ceremony included performances from local dance groups and a spectacular demonstration from World Taekwondo’s iconic demonstration team.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, President Choue said:
“It is a pleasure to be back in this great city. A city that truly loves taekwondo. And a city that will provide a fantastic atmosphere for our athletes over the next five days. There are 975 athletes registered which is a record number for a World Championships. Athletes from 150 countries plus one refugee team are in this arena – united by their love of taekwondo. For this is the beauty of our sport: it is universal.”
The semi-final matches followed the opening ceremony and saw athletes compete across the women’s -46kg and -73kg weight categories and the men’s -58kg. The semi-finals were broadcast live on the BBC and across the world.
Women’s -46kg
The first semi-final of the night saw Xueqin Tan of China face Iran’s Mahla Momenzadeh. It was Tan who opened the stronger with a kick to the body to take a 2-0 lead. Momenzadeh responded well with her own kick to the body. Tan fell to the floor giving away a gam-jeon to give Momenzadeh a 3-2 lead after the first round. Tan took the lead with the first kick of the second round with a kick to the body followed by another in quick succession to take a 6-3 lead. Momenzadeh risked letting the match slip away from her when Tan landed another kick to the body to take an 8-3 lead; however, Momenzadeh managed to land a kick to the head to bring her back within two points of Tan. There was not much to choose between them in the last round saw but a chop kick over the shoulder took the score to 9-8 lead. Momenzadeh gave away a gam-jeon to take it to 9-9. With tension building and just 30 seconds to go Momenzadeh landed a kick to the body to win the match 11-9.
The second semi-final matched Korea’s Jae-young Sim against Thailand’s Julanan Khantikulanon. Sim took an early lead with a kick to the body. Khantikulanon threatened to return with a shot to the body but landed a surprise head shot to take a 3-2 lead. She followed up with a popping shot on the front leg to the body. Sim landed a back leg kick to the body just before the end of the first round. A gam-jeon at the start of the second round took the score to 5-5. With 30 seconds to go Sim landed a body shot and a counter head shot to extend her lead to 13-7. Khantikulanon responded with a kick to the body but again, Sim immediately responded with a kick of her own and extended her lead to 18-9 at the end of the second round. In the final round a body shot and gam-jeon saw the score move to 20-10. Khantikulanon stole a body shot on the inside to close the gap to eight points. But Sim perfectly executed a head shot to take the score to 23-12 and finished with flourish to win the match 25-13.
Men’s -58kg
The first of the men’s -58kg semi-finals Mexico’s Brandon Plaza Hernandez face Rui Braganca of Portugal. Hernandez started with his customary fast-paced style forcing Braganca to defend and hit on the counter. Braganca did exactly that landing a head shot over the shoulder to take a 3-0 lead. Hernandez executed a punch to close the gap and shortly after executed a kick to the body to bring the score to 3-3. In the second round a gam-jeon and back leg kick to the body took the score to 6-3 only for a head shot to level things up at 6-6. Following gam-jeons from both athletes and a back kick from Braganca the score finished 11-8 at the end of the second round. Hernandez started quickly in the final round. Gam-jeons for both athletes saw the score move to 12-9. Hernandez continued strongly and landed a head shot and knocked Braganca to the ground to take a 13-12 lead. A power shot from Braganca evened the score but in a frenetic last 10 seconds, Hernandez landed another head shot to win the match 16-13.
The second semi-final matched Korea’s Jun Jang with Argentina’s Lucas Guzman. Jang dominated the opening exchanges and a back kick around the corner gave Jang a 4-0 lead in the first round. However, persistence paid off for Guzman as he cut the lead to 4-2 with a kick to the body. Jang showed his class with a power punch followed by a number of kicks to the body and head to establish a 10-point lead going into the final round. In the final round Jang continued to showcase his mastery of distance control to keep Guzman at bay. Neither fighter was able to land any significant kicks and the match finished 14-3 to Jang.
Women’s -73kg
In the women’s -73kg France’s Marie Paule Ble started strongly but it was Korea’s Da-bin Lee who secured the opening points with short kick on the inside. Ble forced a Gam-jeon before landing a punch to take the score to 2-2 at the end of the first round. In the second round, Lee landed another body kick but Ble responded with a punch. Trying a different approach Lee landed a punch of her own and the score finished 6-4 at the end of the second round. Ble continued as she left off with a punch at the start of the third, but a kick to the body restored Lee’s lead. Lee stepped up a gear in the final 30 seconds landing kicks to the body and a head shot to win the match 15-10.
The last match of the night was between Turkey’s Nafia Kus and Mexico’s Maria Espinoza. A gam-jeon gave Kus an early lead. Espinoza landed a rarely successful double kick to take a 2-1 lead. Lack of intent to kick from Espinoza cost her a point at the start of the second round to even the scores, 2-2. Grabbing from Espinoza cost her another point and gave Kus a 3-2 lead without having had to land a kick. Espinoza attempted to land a back kick at the end of the second round but Kus saw it coming and defended it well. The start of the final round saw Espinoza give away a gam-jeon for the fourth time in the match to go down 4-2. Espinoza landed a power punch to bring her to within one point of Kus and landed a counter punch to bring the score level and another to go 5-4 up. A gam-jeon at the very end of the match saw Espinoza win the match 6-4.
2019 WT 맨체스터 세계태권도선수권 개막
세계 태권도 최강자를 겨루는 ‘2019 세계태권도선수권대회’가 영국 맨체스터에서 막이 올랐다.
15일(현지시각) 영국 맨체스터 아레나에서 세계태권도연맹(총재 조정원, WT) 주최로 ‘2019 WT 맨체스터 세계태권도선수권대회’가 개막, 오는 19일까지 닷새간 열전을 펼친다. 147개국에서 953명의 선수가 참가했다.
특히 2020 도쿄 올림픽을 1년여 앞두고 열리는 대회로 체급별 최고의 선수들이 출전해 올림픽 전초전을 치른다.
한국은 대회 첫날 2017 무주 세계선수권 금메달리스트 심재영(-46kg급, 고양시청)을 필두로 슈퍼루키 장준(-58kg급, 한체대)과 이다빈(-73kg급, 서울시청)이 모두 결승에 진출해 은메달 3개를 확보했다. 결승전은 16일 오후 열린다.
2017 무주 세계선수권에서 우승한 심재영은 준결승에서 태국의 줄라난 칸티쿨라논을 18대9로 꺾고 결승에 진출, 대회 2연패 가능성을 높였다. 1회전 4대5로 승기를 내줬지만, 2회전 왼발 몸통 공격에 이은 얼굴 공격을 성공시키며 18대9로 앞서며 분위기 전환에 성공했다. 3회전에서도 거푸 추가 득점을 성공시키며 25대13으로 완승을 했다.
지난 대회 챔피언답게 32강 첫 경기와 16강전을 연달아 점수차승을 거두며 순조롭게 출발했다. 그러나 위기는 8강전에 닥쳐다. 스페인의 코르테고소 리마를 맞아 2회전까지 15대3으로 끌려갔다. 3회전 분위기 반전에 나섰다. 집중력을 높여 19대15로 대역전승을 거뒀다.
결승전에서는 세계카뎃선수권 2연패를 차지한 이란 여자 경량급 기대주 마할 모멘자데흐와 금메달을 놓고 맞붙는다. 신장과 체력, 경기력 면에서 우세해 우승 가능성이 매우 높아 보인다.
차세대 기대주 장준(한체대)은 남자 -58kg급 준결승에서 강력한 경쟁자로 예상했던 러시아의 미카엘 아르타보노프를 꺾은 아르헨티나 루카스 구즈만을 상대로 14대3으로 제압하고 결승에 진출했다. 탐색전으로 시작한 1회전에서 4대0으로 기선을 제압한 장준은 2회전에서도 몸통과 얼굴 기술을 연달아 성공시키며 12대2로 크게 앞섰다. 3회전에서도 완벽한 방어로 14대3으로 완승을 거뒀다. 16일 멕시코 브란든 프라자와 금메달을 놓고 격돌한다.
여자 중량급 간판 이다빈(서울시청)은 세계선수권대회에 처음 출전해 금메달을 눈앞으로 다가왔다. 동시에 도쿄 올림픽 출전권 확보에도 청신호가 켜졌다.
첫 경기부터 가벼운 움직임으로 상대를 잇달라 압도했다. 32강에서 쿠바 글레니스 에르난데스를 21대0 점수차승, 16강전 러시아 카리나 즈다노바를 25대5, 8강전 홈팀 영국의 레베카 멕고완을 28대2로 모두 점수차승으로 제압하며 가볍게 동메달을 확보했다. 이어 준결승에서는 프랑스의 마리 폴 블레를 15대10으로 꺾고 결승에 진출했다. 16일 결승전에서는 올림픽 3연속 출전해 금,은,동메달을 딴 멕시코 마리아 에스피노자와 금메달을 놓고 맞붙는다.
세계선수권은 올림픽 다음으로 랭킹 포인트가 많다. 이번 대회 결과에 따라 올림픽 자동출전권도 크게 좌우된다. WT는 판정의 공정성 강화를 위해 세계선수권 최초로 4D 카메라를 통한 비디오판독 시스템이 도입됐다.
1973년 첫 개최된 이 대회는 2년마다 열린다. 올해로 24회째를 맞았다. 올림픽과 함께 태권도 최고 권위를 갖는다. 1994년 9월 4일 국제올림픽위원회(IOC) 총회에서 2000 시드니 올림픽 정식종목으로 채택된 지 25주년을 맞은 특별한 해이다.
이날 오후 5시 30부터 한 시간 반 가량 진행된 개막식에는 WT 조정원 총재, 세르미앙 능 IOC 집행위원(싱가포르), 국제유도연맹(IJF) 마리우스 비저 회장, 맨체스터시티 아비드 라티프 코한 시장(Abid Latif Chohan), UK 마임스 데이브스(Mims Davies) 스포츠 장관 등이 참석해 대회 개막을 축하했다.
한편, 이날 오전 WT 조정원 총재와 IJF 마리우스 비저 총재 간 양해각서 체결을 통해 두 연맹은 앞으로 전 세계 난민캠프 내에 교육 프로그램을 함께 개발, 실의에 빠진 난민과 고아 등에게 삶의 의지를 고취시키기로 했다.
*한국선수들 경기 하이라이트 및 4D 영상 링크 주소
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1s4g2cBFNvY2dp5wEuQfFBGtuGPdQS9K_
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZxdR00sTC7Jgaq0023VMpLBCGoOaRpGZ
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