Kim Tae-hun sits on top of taekwondo rankings

Korea’s Kim Tae-hun, left, lands a kick on Iran’s Farzan Ashourzadeh Fallah during their men’s under-58 kilograms final at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Finals at Sala de Armas in Mexico City, Sunday. / Courtesy of the World Taekwondo Federation

By Nam Hyun-woo

Kim Tae-hun beat Iran’s Farzan Ashourzadeh Fallah 3-2 to win the men’s under-58 kilograms at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix Finals in Mexico City, Sunday (KST), claiming the world No. 1 position in the weight category.

The tournament is part of the quota system that allows National Olympic Committees (NOC) to select fighters for the Rio Olympics. Three Korean fighters finished higher than the cut-off line of sixth place, helping the country to virtually secure a record high five spots in the 2016 Games.

The Korea Taekwondo Association confirmed that no additional tryouts will be held and those who were in the quota will take part in the Olympics.

At Sala de Armas, the Olympic fencing venue in the Magdalena Mixihuca Sports Complex, Kim clinched an upset victory after landing a three-point round kick to the Iranian’s head in the dying seconds of the final third round.

The victory gave Kim 80 ranking points to take over Ashourzadeh Fallah and climb to the top of the rankings table.

However, other Koreans were not as successful as Kim. Oh Hye-ri, No. 4 in the women’s under-67 kilograms, suffered a 2-4 loss against Russia’s Anastasiia Baryshnikova in the first round, while Kim So-hui, No. 7 in the women’s under-49 kilograms, also was defeated 0-5 by the formidable Chinese Wu Jingyu in the first round.

Despite the losses, Oh, who earned enough points before the tournament, held on to her place in the top-six list and Kim was also able to grab the last ticket as No. 8 Itzel Manjarrez was beaten by Thailand’s Panipak Wongpattanakit in the third place match. Two Thai fighters were in the top six.

Since the federation restricts each NOC to one Olympic quota in one weight category, Kim was able to get the last ticket.

Korea has three more practitioners in the second day of the two-day tournament. Lee Dae-hoon (No. 2) and Kim Hun (No. 8) will compete in men's under-68 kilograms, while Cha Dong-min (No. 5) will fight in the men's over-80 kilograms. Lee and Cha are expected to be within the top six.