BURNABY, Canada (Nov. 16, 2016) – Gold medals went to Iran and Vietnam in the female categories, while Korea won both golds up for grabs in the male divisions on Day 1 of the 2016 WTF World Taekwondo Junior Championships.
The championships, which WTF President Chungwon Choue called “a road map to Tokyo 2020” features athletes aged 15-17. Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Sports Centre was full to the bursting point, and with many nations fielding vocal, 20-person teams, the event rocked to a noisy aural backdrop.
With 846 competitors and 458 officials registered, representing 102 countries, Burnaby 2016 is the biggest World Juniors ever.
On the first day of the five-day competition, the lightest weight divisions were contested, with medals available in the Female -42kg, Female -44kg, Male -45kg and Male -48kg categories.
Female -44kg
In the Female -44kg category finals, Maria Calderon of Costa Rica took on Thi Kim Ngan Ho of Vietnam. Both fighters started fast and both visited the mats in a clash, but then settled; the round ended 0-0. In the second, the taller Vietnamese girl landed a head kick, going three points up, ending the round 3-0. In the third, Calderon was desperately trying to land, but could just not get past Ho’s long and very versatile front leg, and lost another point on penalties. In the last 12 seconds, things got rough as the frustrated Calderon attacked and Ho went down outside the mats, losing two points for falling twice, and then a third time, but still ending it 5-2, taking gold and leaving Calderon with the silver.
Bronzes were won by Derya Esme of Turkey and Abigail Faye Valdez of the Philippines
Source: WTF
