Updated: 2008-08-22 02:42:14
(BEIJING, August 22) – Two Republic of Korea (ROK) athletes stole the show by claiming both the Men’s and Women’s titles in Thursday’s competition.
Women’s -57kg weight class
Lim Su-jeong of the Republic of Korea took the gold by defeating Azize Tanrikulu of Turkey 1-0 in the final. The gold came as a belated gift for Lim, who just celebrated her birthday one day earlier.
Like the renowned Lopez family, silver medallist Azize Tanrikulu is also from a Taekwondo family, and her brother Bahri Tanrikulu will compete on Friday in the Men’s -80kg weight division.
The youngest competitor in the weight class, 19-year-old Croatian athlete Martina Zubcic won a bronze, a great achievement, especially considering her age.
The other bronze went to Diana Lopez, who was defeated by Tanrikulu in the quarterfinals. But she took the opportunity of a repechage and managed to march into the bronze medal match where she took the medal by defeating Italian athlete Veronica Calabrese.
Men’s -68kg weight class
Favorite Son Tae-jin of ROK claimed the Men’s -68kg gold by defeating the 2005 world title winner and the fifth finisher at the 2007 world championships Mark Lopez for a second time (The first time being their encounter at the 2007 World Qualifying Tournament).
Nineteen-year-old Turkish Taekwondo fighter Servet Tazegul got a bronze by beating Peter Lopez of Peru in the bronze medal match. Tazegul also eliminated the world champion in the 62-67kg category, Gessler Viera of Cuba, in the preliminary round.
The other bronze medal went to Sung Yu-chi of Chinese Taipei, the reigning world champion of the 67-72kg category, who overpowered German Taekwondo fighter Daniel Manz in the other bronze medal match, after narrowly losing to Son, who later became the champion in the semifinals.
