South Korea sweeps opening day of taekwondo

Saturday’s kickoff of the taekwondo competition at the Chengdu FISU World University Games was meant to mark a big success for host China but eventually it was the South Koreans who swept gold in the individual poomsae events.

Wanjin Kang and Yeaeun Cha, both students from Kyung Hee University, did not hold the lead at any point until the finals at the Wangjian Campus Gymnasium of Sichuan University. In the end, however, they overtook the home crowd favorites to win the men’s and women’s titles.

Following Friday’s spectacular opening ceremony, Chinese fans were hungry for more success.

In women’s competition, China’s Yuqing Liu for a long time did not give any chances to her opponents, winning both the preliminaries and semifinal. However, the home crowd favourite fell all the way to fifth after the final with a disappointing 5.850.

Meanwhile, Cha qualified to the top 15 from the eighth position (6.730) before improving to fifth place to advance to the last stage.

In the final, where athletes had to present the 12th poomsae and freestyle, Cha posted a winning score of 6.420 to edge Chinese Taipei’s Tzu-hsuan Hu (6.380) and Iran’s Yasaman Limouchi (6.330), who rounded out the podium.

“I was a bit nervous today and at one of my attempts I even thought I had fallen, but after that, my body got better and I was able to face my rivals,” the winner said.

“My specialization is freestyle and I am very glad that this part of my performance worked out very well today.”

On the men’s side, Kang successfully defended his title from the Napoli 2019 Games, but it didn’t come easily.

The 24-year-old dominated the preliminaries with a score of 7.330 but dropped to third position after the semifinal after earning a 7.150.

In the final, the Korean showed his class once again, scoring 7.080 to give him a narrow advantage over China’s Hu Mingda (7.010). The podium was completed by Emir Yilmaz of Türkiye (6.740).

“We have committed a lot of little mistakes today. I was not satisfied after the semifinal,” Kang said. “That is why I treat our victory a little bit as a gift from God. I am so grateful to my family and team that always told me that I could do it again.”

The golden double was also a special moment for Kyung Hee University, home to both champions.

“We developed a lot there. This is a place that gives you a great opportunity as an athlete. They have excellent coaches and technical staff. That helps a lot to enhance your skills.”

Written by Piotrek Przyborowski, FISU Young Reporter