Electronic Protector Usage Postponed
By WTF
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The WTF Electronic Protector International Taekwondo Championships wrapped up its two-day event in a success here on March 5, 2007. The electronic protector championships drew much attention from local and foreign media, especially television networks. The KBS-2TV broadcast live nationwide the second day of competitions.
Despite this success, the WTF held its Executive Committee came to the conclusion that there should be more time for athletes and officials to get used to the new equipment and also to further improve the system. Therefore, the electronic protector will not be used in at the upcoming World Taekwondo Championships in May this year in Beijing, China, and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The WTF is now collecting various opinions from experts, athletes and spectators.
On the second day of the tournament Korea, Italy, Mexico and Chinese Taipei won one gold medal each. In the male -68kg category, Korea’s In-kyu Lee earned his country the first gold medal in the championships by beating Japan’s Kiyoteru Higuchi. Korean Lee advanced to the final match, as he brushed aside a stiff challenge from Iran’s Behzad Eilkhanl in the sudden-death round of a semifinal match. Spain’s Omar Badia shared the bronze medal in the class.
In the female -57kg class, Mexico’s Iridia Salazar won the gold as he beat the Philippins’ Simbulan Sabrina Jo. The bronze went to Italy’s Calabrese Veronica and China’s Shao Fen.
In the men’s over 80kg final match, Italy’s Basile Leonardo defeated Turkey’s Halil Ibrahim Mercimek to clinch the gold medal. The bronze medal was shared by France’s Zokou Firmin and Chinese Taipei’s Yuan Ming Che.
In the female over 67kg category, Chinese Taipei’s Isui Fang Hsuan earned her country the gold medal as she beat Greek Kouvari Kiriaki. The bronze went to Russia’s Bykova Irina and Spain’s Rosana Somon.
