Korea add two golds at Taekwondo Worlds
By Jung Min-ho
Kim Tae-hun of Korea, left, and Chia Lin Hsu of Chinese Taipei exchange kicks during the men’s under-54-kilogram final match at the World Taekwondo Championships in Puebla, Mexico, Friday. / Korea Times
PUEBLA, Mexico Korea added two gold medals to cement its position at the top of the medal count with four golds, one silver and one bronze at the World Taekwondo Championships Friday.
Kim Yu-jin, 22, won a gold medal in the women’s under-53-kilogram class after overcoming a ferocious challenge from Ana Zaninovic of Croatia 7-6 at the final match. And Kim Tae-hun, 19, who competed in the men’s under-54-kilogram event, ended the night with a bang by adding one more gold medal to his team after beating Chia Lin Hsu of Chinese Taipei 7-0.
“It has been a tough competition since my right ankle was sprained a day before taking off from Korea,” Kim Yu-jin told reporters.
Kim Yu-jin almost lost the gold medal when Zaninovic connected her back kick to Kim’s chest only a few seconds before the final whistle to take the 6-5 lead. But Kim survived after the defending champion lost one point by warnings accumulated.
She scored the winning point with her left round kick before Zaninovic touched her head with the right foot in overtime. It was a close call.
Kim Yu-jin got off to a good start by earning the first one point by her left round kick but the match became hard for her when Zaninovic successfully landed her right kick on Kim’s head just before the end of the first round.
“The most difficult thing was my stamina. I could not practice enough here because of the injury. I felt I became exhausted more quickly than normal,” she said. “My coach encouraged me, saying that I can win. It made me confident.”
For Kim Tae-hun, it did not take the same effort to win the same medal as he took control of the match with a brilliant performance.
The 183-centimeter took advantage of his height and long legs by kicking Hsu in a distance that the opponent couldn’t reach.
His defense-oriented style wasted no energy and made it tough for the shorter opponent to get close to him. His attacking pattern was monotonous as he only used his left leg throughout the match, but it worked.
Kim Tae-hun took an early lead after a left chest kick in the first round. And he landed his left kick on Hsu’s head twice before the end to confirm his victory.
Meanwhile, Lee Hye-mi, who competed in the women’s over-73-kilogram event, lost to Katherine Rodríguez of Dominican Republic in the first round.
The competition will resume with the men’s under-87-kilogram, the men’s over-87-kilogram and the women’s under-73-kilogram events.
Two-time World Championships silver medalist Lee In-jong, 30, will participate in the women’s under-73-kilogram division in a bid to win her first gold medal.