The 2005 World Taekwondo Championships were held at the Stadium Des Los Deportes in Madrid Spain. The event was organised superbly with 4 rings surrounding a central raised ring in the middle of the arena. The competition was supplied with mats and customised armour by Daedo International and 4 huge TV screens showing the action wwere provided by TV Espanola. The competition was a major success with a number of excellent fighters such as Ko Seok Hwa, Feizollah Nafjam and Mark Lopez giving superb performances. However there was major contoversy right through the championships as the highly partisan spanish crowd had a great effect on a number of spanish players matches. This came to a massive head during the Lopez/Alonso semi final match when there was outrage during a superiority 4th round decision. Lopez won the match by scoring on Alonso with a counter cut shot too the back. However after a replay on the screens around the stadium it was evident that the kick had not hit the hogu but below it and the Spanish tried to have this decision overturned! However after a 2 hour delay of the final match between Lopez and Tajik of Iran the Spanish appeal was rejected and Lopez went on to win his 3rd successive World title in great style. The championship was also missing many key players from the Athens Olympics with Chu Mu Yen, Chen Chih Shin and Moon Dae Sung to name a few. One thing can be said for certain, the introduction of the 4th superiority round changes the circumstances for a number of players! Roll on Beijing 2007!
SUCCESS AT THE 2004 OLYMPIC GAMES!!!
SUCCESS!! With Taekwondo now finished at the 2004 Olympic Games it is time for all practitioners of Taekwondo across the world to look back and reflect on whether or not Taekwondo has improved since the 2000 Olympic Games Taekwondo event. With the inclusion of the new rules in 2002 Taekwondo has delveloped over the last few years in a way no other spoert could ever dream of. The slow waiting game of scoring point for point in the old system of rules has long since been irradicated although obviously it is still present in many fighters games. One thing can be for sure, the Taekwondo action in the 2004 Olympic Games was (in our opinion here at TKD Players) far more excting and dynamic than at the 2000 Olympic Games. We can only hope for the future and for the good of our beloved sport that it keeps getting better and improves even more at the 2008 Beijing Games in 4 years time. (Olympic report live from the event to follow shortly!)
MOUTHPIECES! MANDATORY OR NOT??
So far in every single event since the 2003 World Olympic Qualifier to the Olympic Games, the mandatory ruling on the use of mouthpices in competition has not been enforced. Even at major open events such as the Dutch, German and Belgian Opens this rule has not been made a mandatory part of the competition process. However we have heard from many National Federations saying that they include the mandatory use of mouthpieces in their national competitions. So why does the WTF have this rule? Despite the fact that here at TKD Players we totaly agree that the use of mouthpieces do protect players, the rule should either be enforced on all competitors globally, generalised to certain players (e.g. children and juniors) or not be included at all. WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE COMMENTS ON THE GUESTBOOK OR SEND US AN E-MAIL!
TAEKWONDO SUCCESS AT THE OLYMPIC TEST EVENT!!
The 2004 Athens Olympic Games is now only months away and the stage is set for an epic battle between the Best of the Best in the world. Despite the controversy surrounding whether or not Athens will be prepared for the Olympics, the Taekwondo arena was prepared over 18 months ago. Since Michealis Mouroutsos' Gold medal win at Sydney 4 years ago, Taekwondo has become a fanatical sport in the host nation of the 2004 Olympics, Greece. The Taekwondo arena, which has been named 'The House of Taekwondo', will stage the Taekwondo Olympic event and is said to be one of the best in the world. This was proven without a doubt at the recent 2004 Olympic Test Event which was held at the 'House of Taekwondo', situated at the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex Sports Pavilion. The arena can house up to 8000 spectators and is expected to fill its maximum capacity when the Olympic Taekwondo event begins.
2004 ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES: WHO WILL THE WINNERS BE? NOW WE KNOW!!
Now that the games are over and the names of the newly crowned Taekwondo Olympic champions echo in our ears, we here at Taekwondo reflect on whether or not our predictions for the games medallists came true! All of our correct predictions are highlighted in red! Hope you enjoyed the games!
-49 FEMALE OLYMPIC FLY WEIGHT: This is a tough one to call as there are a multitude of excellent players qualified in this division. Here is our prediction.
1. CHINESE TAIPEI: Chen Shih Hsin (Strong, fast and confident)
2. SPAIN: Brigida Yague (Despite recent efforts, she is still a quality player)
3. CUBA: Labrada Diaz Yanelis (Strong and clever in the ring)
-58 MALE OLYMPIC FLY WEIGHT: This is not one of the strongest weight classes in the Olympics yet it is still a tough one to call: Here is our prediction.
1. CHINESE TAIPEI: Chu Mu Yen (Strong, fast and unbeatable!)
2. SPAIN: Ramos Juan Antonio (Strong with a lot of heart, he really wants a medal)
3. GREECE: Michealis Mouroutsos (We feel the home adavantage will spur him on)
-57 FEMALE OLYMPIC FEATHER WEIGHT: This weight has a least 8 players who are more than capable of winning a medal on the day. Here is our prediction.
1. KOREA: Jang Ji Won (No matter who Korea send, they will medal at this weight)
2. MEXICO: Iridia Salazar (She has confidence and strength in the ring)
3. GREECE: Areti Athanasopoulou (We feel the home adavantage will spur her on)
-68 MALE OLYMPIC FEATHER WEIGHT: Again there are at least 8 players who are capable of winning a medal on the day. Here is our prediction.
1. KOREA: Seong Myeong Sup (Whoever Korea send at the weight, they will medal)
2. ITALY: Molfetta Carlo (A young yet talented fighter, who has the ability)
3. IRAN: Hadi Saeibonehkohal (A veteran with a strong and solid game)
-67 FEMALE OLYMPIC WELTER WEIGHT: Not the most hotly contended weight catagory and we feel the top three who won the World Qualifiers will win again. Here is our prediction.
1. CHINA: Wei Luo (Tall, strong and confident)
2. KOREA: Hwang Kyung Sun (An excellent and clever player. The fastest in the weight)
3. NORWAY: Nina Solheim (Strong, solid with a good game. She has a great chance)
-80 MALE OLYMPIC WELTER WEIGHT: By far the most exciting and hardly contended weight in the competiton. This is a hard one to call but here is what we feel. Here is our prediction.
1. USA: Steven Lopez (Strong, fast and cocky. A winning combination!)
2. IRAN: Youssef Karami (Strong, fast and young. More than capable)
3. MEXICO: Victor Manuel Estrada Garibay (A veteran with enough experience to win)
+67 FEMALE OLYMPIC HEAVY WEIGHT: Again this is not a very hotly contended weight class. However there are still a number of players who are capable of wining. Here is our prediction.
1. CHINA: Chen Zhong (A veteran of the game who knows what it takes to win)
2. CROATIA: Natasa Vezmar (Another veteran with enough will to win)
3. GREAT BRITAIN: Sarah Stevenson (She is a little older and wiser this time)
+80 MALE OLYMPIC HEAVY WEIGHT: This is another hotly contended weight class. Howvever some of the players in this weight division do show some class above the rest. Here is our prediction.
1. KOREA: Moon Dae Sung (A player with enough experience to fulfil Korean expectations)
2. FRANCE: Pascal Gentil (Tall, strong and cocky. He wants it bad this time!)
3. DENMARK: Asidiah Zakaria (Aplayer who has showed he is good enough to be the best)
HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE GAMES!!
2003 WORLD TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIPS!!
The 2003 World Taekwondo Championships were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany from 24th Sept-28th Sept 2003. Over 100 differing nations attended the hotly competed event in hope to win the World title. The organization and structure of the competition was excellent with five rings all supplied with their own water coolers and support teams. Each ring also had electronic scoring which was visible for all to see throughout the arena. The seating areas were of an excellent standard allowing spectators to view matches from many different heights and angles and the capacity for the stadium was more than enough to house the thousands of spectators comfortably. The standard of competition was amazing with excellent demonstrations of Taekwondo throughout the competition.
However the standard of refereeing during the competition left much to be desired. Two referees were banned from WTF service after two of the many protests during the competition went thorough during judgement. The standard of scoring was also contrevertial as was seen during the match with Korea vs Morrocco in womens -67 weight.
Some of the most memorable highlights of the competition were the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the open fight on ring 1 between Iran and Korea.
IRANIAN HEAD COACH BANNED FOR TWO YEARS!!
During the World Taekwondo Championships held in Germany a large scale fight broke out on ring 1 between Korea and Iran. Many of the Iranians were seen throwing bottles and chairs onto the ring in protest of the decision made against their player who was beaten by Korea's Kang Nam Won. As a result of this the Iranian Head Coach and Team doctor have been banned for two years. There is widescale speculation on whether or not this will have any effect on the Iranian team. In an effort to try and counter this act many of the Iranian team tryed to get the signatures of foreign coaches during the championships to petition against the banning of team coaches.
ARE THE NEW OLYMPIC WEIGHTS DESTROYING TAEKWONDO??
Preparation for the Olympic Games by players wishing to qualify has been outstanding reports suggest today with Major Opens such as the German and Dutch competitions boasting countless numbers of players at differing weight catagories. With players from differing nations wishing to attend the Olympics, Taekwondo is no longer considered to be a sport dominated by the Asians and Koreans. However due to the fact that the Olympic Games only consists of 8 weight catagories many people believe that certain World Weight catagories are getting harder and some others are being neglected due to Olympic fever. Examples of this can be seen in many competitions as in the recent German Open 61 players entered for -58 Men's Fly weight catagory and only 19 entered -54 Men's Fin weight catagory. Reports now suggest that many players are also shifting weight as in the recent Universiade, Chu Mu Yen of Taipei (a proven Fin weight player) won the -58 Fly weight catagory and Behzad Khodadad Kanjobeh (a proven Fly weight player) won silver in the -62 Bantam weight catagory.
