Korea’s Cha Dong-min won a gold medal in a world qualifying competition Sunday to win a place in the 2012 London Olympics.
On the final day of the World Taekwondo Federation qualification tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Korean defeated Russia’s Gadzhi Umarov 6-1 for the gold medal in the men’s over-80 kg final.
Cha was the fourth Korean taekwondo athlete to secure a berth in the London Olympics at the four-day competition in Baku, which kicked off on Thursday.
Korea’s Cha Dong-min delivers a kick to Gadzhi Umarov of Russia in the men’s over-80 kg final of the WTF qualification tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday. (WTF)
The WTF Qualification Tournament has drawn a total of 345 athletes from 108 countries, with the top three athletes in each weight category securing a berth for their country in the 2012 Games.
On Saturday in the women’s over-67 kg final, Korea’s An Sae-bom lost to France’s Gwladys Epangue after going through a sudden-death round, but earned her country a spot in the taekwondo competition for the 2012 Games.
Earlier in the women’s under-67 kg final, Kim Mi-kyung held off a strong challenge from Farida Azizoya of Azerbaijan, beating the host rival 6-5 for the gold medal, and Lee Dae-hoon managed to beat Egypt’s Tamer Bayoumi 8-6 in the men’s under-57 kg bronze-medal contest to win their country final berths at the London Olympics.
Eight gold medals are up for grabs at the London Olympics. For the men, there are the under-58 kg, -68 kg, -80 kg and over-80 kg, while for the women, there are the under-49 kg, -57 kg, -67 kg and over-67 kg. A total of 128 athletes ― each country can send up to four ― will compete for top honors at the London Olympics, according to the WTF rules.
Korea grabbed four tickets for the 2012 London Olympic Games through the four-day qualifying tournament at Sarhadchi Sport Olympic Center in Baku. And six countries ― host Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, China, Croatia and Taiwan ― won two berths each, while eight countries ― Thailand, Dominican Republic, Sweden, Turkey, Brazil, France, Italy and Greece ― took one spot each for the London Olympics. The rest of the places will be decided through regional qualification rounds, which start in November.
By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)