High schooler Park Woo-hyuk loses in the quarterfinals while Hong Hyo-rim gets bronze in the Taekwondo Grand Prix.
Hong Hyo-rim (Gangwon Cheego), the only high school student on the Korean taekwondo team, earned a valuable bronze medal at the Grand Prix Series.
Hong finished third in the women’s 67-kilogram category at the second day of the Paris 2023 World Taekwondo (WTF) Grand Prix in Levalle and Perret, near Paris, France, on Wednesday (March 3).
She upset her Round of 16 opponent Sarah Shari (BEL) with a round score of 2-1 (3-6, 5-5, 8-7).
Shari was the favorite to win the women’s 62 kg at last year’s World Championships and the 63 kg at the World Junior Championships.
After defeating a tough opponent, Hong advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 (10-4, 1-6, 1-1) round robin victory over quarterfinalist Petra Stolbova (Czech Republic).
Hong fell short in the final. She lost to Meng Yujiang of China with a round score of 0-2 (2-9, 2-2).
Hong Hyo-rim dropped the first game by a large margin, and in the second game, after taking the lead with a left-foot spinning kick, she allowed herself to be tied and then fell behind in the count.
Unfortunately, she had to settle for the semifinalist’s bronze medal.
“I achieved my goal of winning a medal, but I was disappointed not to make it to the final,” said Hong Hyo-rim after the match, “I will do my best to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.”
“In the round of 16, my opponent was about 20 centimeters taller than me, so it wasn’t easy to use my skills,” he said, adding, “Coach Hwang Kyung-sun did a great job of strategizing at key moments.”
Park Woo-hyuk (Samsung S-One) and Seo Gun-woo (Korea Gymnastics), who were among the favorites to medal in the men’s 80 kg category, were both eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Jin Ho-joon (Suwon City Hall) and Kwon Do-yoon (Korea Gymnastics University), who competed in the men’s 68 kg category, also lost in the round of 16 and round of 32, respectively.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) Ethics Commissioner Ban Ki-moon made an appearance at the stadium.
He watched the semifinals and finals of the men’s and women’s three weight classes 먹튀검증토토사이트 and awarded Hong Hyo-rim the bronze medal in the women’s 67 kilograms.
