▲ © Dae-hoon Lee (KOR) celebrates another title (WTU) |
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By Pau Aguilar of Spain
Round by round results: click HERE
Final Podiums
Men’s -68 kg
1 – Dae-hoon Lee (KOR) – 70,000 USD
2 – Yunfei Guo (CHN) – 20,000 USD
3 – Alexey Denisenko (RUS) – 10,000 US
Women’s -67 kg
1 – Ruth Gbagbi (CIV) – 70,000 USD
2 – Shuai Zhao (CHN) – 20,000 USD
3 – Hyeri Oh (KOR) – 10,000 USD
Report
The second Saturday of the World Taekwondo (WT) Grand Slam 2017/18 series, which pits the best twelve athletes in each Olympic weight category against each other, was dominated by Dae-hoon Lee (KOR) and Ruth Gagbi (CIV), who became the M-68 and W-67 champions.
Gbagbi, third seed, defeated one of the local hopes of the day, Yunfei Guo, by 10-6 in a close final. The bronze medallist was no other than Heyri Oh, Rio 2016 champion, who was stopped by Guo on her way to the final but managed to reach the podium after outscoring Zhang from China by 32-16 in the repechage.
The number one seed Dae-hoon Lee (KOR) added another title to his large collection and confirmed he clearly is the athlete of the year after beating the local idol Shuai Zhao in an extreaordinay final by 53-14. Alexey Denisenko of Russia took the lower step of the podium after defeating the Iranian Mirhashem Hosseini for the bronze medal by only one point 15-14.
After the competition, Dr Choue, World Taekwondo (WT) President declared:
“The second weekend of this year’s Grand Slam series was a huge success. As we continue to tell the stories of elite players through this highly competitive event, we are also creating a more media-friendly, spectator-centric sport. There were some amazing performances today, with a number of stars born.
“I look forward with great anticipation to the next two editions in the coming weeks, and would like to take this opportunity to thank the impeccable Wuxi Organizing Committee for its hard work and dedication in hosting this event.”
Future of the competition
This year is the inaugural Grand Slam tournament, which is set to take place each year from now on. The series consists of eight separate tournaments (two per Saturday over four Saturdays) to represent each Olympic taekwondo weight category (four female, four male). The series is invitational, and brings together 12 premier athletes in each weight category.
For the 2017/2018 Grand Slam, the invited athletes in each tournament/category include the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallists, and two gold medallists from the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships (the world championships feature twice as many weight categories as the Olympics). The champions of the Grand-Prix Final from December 2017 are also invited, as are the three winners of the Grand-Prix Series held earlier in 2017 and the winner of the 2016 Grand-Prix Final.
If any of the above overlaps or any player drop out, the top eight will rounded out with the next player(s) in the WT Olympic rankings. In addition, the host country receives one wild card and the last three athletes in each tournament will be selected in a pre-Grand Slam qualification tournament. These last three athletes could come from other combat sport disciplines or any other styles – though in the qualification tournament and in the Grand Slam series, they will have to fight under World Taekwondo rules.
▲ © 이대훈(청)이 결승전에서 중국의 자오 슈아이(Shuai ZHAO)에게 얼굴 공격을 시도하고 있다 (WTU) |
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▲ © 여자 -67kg급 3위를 차지한 오혜리 (WTU) |
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이대훈(대전시체육회)이 태권도 왕중왕전으로 불리는 그랜드슬램마저 석권했다.
2분 5회전 결승전서 압도적인 체력으로 2016 리우올림픽 남자 –58kg급 금메달리스트인 중국의 자오 슈아이(Shuai ZHAO)를 완파하면서 상금 7만 불도 손에 거머쥐었다.
현지시간 6일 중국 우시 타이우 인터내셔날 엑스포 센터서 열린 2017 세계태권도연맹(WT) 월드태권도그램드슬램 챔피언스 시리즈 두 번째 대회서 이대훈이 남자 –68kg급 우승, 오혜리는 여자 –67kg급 동메달을 차지했다.
이대훈은 이날 러시아의 알렉세이 데니센코브와 맞붙은 준결승전서 큰 고비를 겪었다. 3회전 15대 15 동점상황까지 간 두 선수의 경기는 골든포인트로 향했고, 골든포인트서도 득점이 나지 않아 결국 유효타에서 5대 0으로 앞선 이대훈이 결승에 진출했다.
결승전 상대는 이대훈보다 약 10cm가량 신장이 우세한 자오 슈아이. 이대훈은 2분 5회전으로 치러지는 결승전 2회전부터 자오 슈아이를 몰아붙이기 시작했다. 오른발 압박으로 몸통 득점을 뽑아내며 리드를 시작한 이대훈은 오른발 머리 앞돌려차기 공격을 성공시키며 승부의 향방을 결정지었다. 이어 체력전에 돌입하면서 이대훈은 끊임없이 자오 슈아이를 압박했고, 뒤후리기 머리 공격 2번을 포함해 점수차를 30점까지 벌려냈다. 특히, 5회전 마지막까지 자오 슈아이를 상대로 공격을 멈추지 않아 경기장을 뜨겁게 달구었고, 최종스코어 53대 14로 1위에 올랐다.
이대훈은 이번 대회 우승으로 지난 2016년 바쿠그랑프리파이널부터 현재까지 출전한 WT 메이저 대회를 모두 석권하는 기염을 토했다.
여자 –67kg급에 출전한 오혜리(춘천시청)는 3위에 올랐다.
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