7th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships

The fourth and final day of the 7th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships finished in Tunja, Colombia on Dec. 9, 2012 in front of yet another packed to the brim crowd. Athletes and fans, young and the young at heart gathered at the San Antonio Coliseum to celebrate the outstanding Championships.

The conclusion of the action-packed four-day event came with a huge celebration of athletes as members from every nation took to the floor with the WTF Taekwondo Demonstration Team, local Tunja taekwondo youth, and volunteers and all danced to the global sensation “Gangnam Style.” The fiesta ended the final day saw pairs under 29, male and female team over 29, and freestyle team competitions.

In the pairs under 29, China sneaked past Vietnam to claim the gold. Vietnam’s silver was closely followed behind by Ecuador’s and Chinese Taipei’s bronzes.

It was the Germans that prevailed in the female over 29 team competition. Colombia stepped up for the silver as Chinese Taipei and Russia stood strong with bronze.

Host nation added a second medal of the day with a bronze medal in the male over 29 team category, sharing the hardware with Chinese Taipei. Iran was the team scored golden for today’s men’s team competition and Egypt won silver.

Male's over 29 Team podium

A Vietnamese squad nailed their routine to become the best freestyle team on the world. The Philippines were on par to win their silver medal. China and the United States held out strong performances to take home the bronze.

Korea finished the competition with a total of 12 medals and finished as the top nation, but Iran was not far behind with an impressive 10 medals to place second. The United States had a tremendous showing during the tournament with a total of six medals, and also received an additional reward for the most improved team.

Other honorary awards were given to host nation Colombia for outstanding organization and attraction of spectators. Indonesia was honored for being the next host nation for the WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships.

MVP awards went to Jeong Cheol Kim of Spain and Su Ji Kang of Korea. Mikaela Calamba of the Philippines and Karen Suache Arias of Colombia were recognized for ‘best performances.’ The top honors for coaching went to Jae Jin Kang from Korea and Le Minh Khuong from Vietnam.

Trophies for Best Referees went to Daniel Khorassandjin (Lebanon), Johanna Bliem (Austria), Jun Cheol Yun (USA), Wolfgang Bruckel (Germany), and Tem Igor Buenconsejo (Philippines). Norway, Malaysia and Brazil were awarded for ‘best fighting spirit’; and Ukraine, Serbia, and Uruguay stood out for their ‘active participation.’

The Championships as a whole found nearly half of the participating countries winning at least a medal. The 16 medals up for grabs on the last day alone were distributed among 11 nations.

Pairs under 29 final podium

The WTF President, Dr. ChungwonChoue, heralded the success of the 7th edition of the Championships saying:

“Without the athletes, coaches, and officials, these Championships couldn’t be. The tremendous hard work and dedication to the sport of taekwondo has made them role models to the youth of their nations to look up to. And, the wonderful spectators, organizers and volunteers of the city of Tunja, were the heroes and heroines of these Championships. They really created the best atmosphere for our very exceptional athletes to compete to be the ‘World’s Best.’”

Speaking on the growing popularity of the sport of taekwondo around the world, Dr. Choue said:
“Taekwondo has always been, and will continue to be a sport for all. Any athlete is welcome to participate, regardless of their background or affiliation of any sport or organization, as long as they are willing to follow our rules. We have a lot of athletes competing that have a background in other martial arts like karate, judo, wushu, and jujitsu.” “The taekwondo family is open to any and all who want to join.”

As the WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Tunja were declared closed, the WTF flag was handed over from the Colombian Taekwondo Federation to a delegation from Indonesia. Next year’s 8th edition of the Championships will be hosted by Bali, Indonesia.

Source: WTF

7th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships complete results:

Female’s under 17:

1) Suache Arias Caren – COL (7.85)
2) Blundo Elena – ITA (7.82)
3) Yao Jing Jing – CHN (7.62)
4) Kang So Hee – KOR (7.60)

Male’s under 17:

1) Lee Hyen Min – KOR (7.49)
2) Jamshidi Mohammadmehdi – IRI (7.32)
3) Velez Castaño Isaac – COL (7.22)
4) Nguyen Minh Van – VIE (7.15)

Female’s under 29:

1) Kang Su-Ji – KOR (8.28)
2) Lien Thi Tuyet Mai – VIE (7.75)
3) Medina López Ollin Yoliztlin – MEX (7.73)
4) Maleki Aderani Nastaran – IRI (7.68)

Male’s under 29:

1) Hwang Wang-Kon – KOR (7.95)
2) Marin Borras Alejandro – ESP (7.63)
3) Le Anh Minh – VIE (7.60)
4) Beheshti Hossein – IRI (7.53)

Female’s under 39:

1) Kim Kim Laura – ESP (7.62)
2) Hong Hee-Jung – KOR (7.50)
3) Khorami Pour Sanaz – IRI (7.415)
4) Agudelo Olga – COL (7.35)

Male’s under 39:

1) Song Ki-Sung – KOR (8.02)
2) Salmani Azarkhavarani Ali – IRI (7.965)
3) Wang Li Chung – TPE (7.865)
4) Jo Lee Alberto – ESP (7.765)

Female’s under 49:

1) Oh Kyeong-Ran – KOR (7.56)
2) Turner Imke – GER (7.40)
3) Reyes Akiko – USA (7.40)
4) Chang Han Wen – TPE (7.32)

Male’s under 49:

1) Lee Cheol Hee – KOR (8.61)
2) Akhlaghi Ahmad – IRI (8.30)
3) Abdelhaamid Yehia – EGY (8.09)
4) Notaro Andrea – ITA (8.01)

Female’s under 59:

1) Seo Yeong-Ae – KOR (7.56)
2) George Kristi – USA (7.16)
3) Volvoka Natalia – RUS (6.95)
4) Alonso Mateo Maria Angeles – ESP (6,94)

Male’s under 59:

1) Lim Byoung Young – KOR (7.52)
2) Alavi Mir Ata Oddin – NED (7.47)
3) Zahedi Haghighi Gilani Seyed Hassan – IRI (7.29)
4) Escobar Valenzuela Ricardo – CHI (7.10)

Female’s over 59:

1) Thackrey Noreen – USA (6.62)
2) You Youn-ja – KOR (6.50)
3) Borring Lis – DEN (6.05)
4) Catalina Hernández Ramos – ESP (5.82)

Male’s over 59:

1) Kim Jeong Cheol – ESP (7.77)
2) Posada Rios Oskar – COL (7.30)
3) Lee Kyu Hyun – KOR (7.02)
4) Chen Huo Shih – TPE (6.98)

Female’s Individual Free Style:

1) Calamba Mikeala – PHI (7.20)
2) Chau Tuyet Van – VIE (7.10)
3) Rosmaniar Defia – INA (6.76)
4) Rodriguez Ann Bernadette – USA (6.73)

Male’s Individual Free Style:

1) Chong Charlie – CAN (7.80)
2) Ayala Talavera Vaslav – MEX (7.50)
3) Luo Qiusheng – CHN (7.26)
4) Rodriguez Rodriguez Leandro – COL (7.23)

Pairs under 29:

1) CHN – Qiao Zhi y Quan Xue Yan (7.54)
2) VIE – Nguyen Dinh Toan y Nguyen Minh Tu (7.52)
3) ECU – Sigchos Henry y Claudia Cardenas (7.42)
4) TPE – Lu Chu Sheng y Lee Ying Hsian (7.38)

Pairs over 29:

1) USA – Hwang Jason y Kim Young A. (7.50)
2) NED – Janssen Robertus y Schoenmakers Angelique (7.42)
3) RUS – Gorbunov Evgeny y Tipliakova Natalia (7.40)
4) GER – Ketteniss Marcus y Ketteniss Nicole (7.38)

Pairs Free Style:

1) PER – Saux Collantes Bruno y Yi Wu Acuy Winnie (7.47)
2) VIE – Le Thanh Trung y Nguyen Thuy Xuan Linh (7.33)
3) PHI – Tinaya Galilee y Ventura Beatrice (7.26)
4) GER – Kesternich Roger y Beaujean Claudia (7.24)

Team Female’s under 29:

1) IRI – (7.685)

Maleki Aderani Nastaran,
Mollamadadkhani Colsoum,
Ghaderian Bahareh

2) VIE – (7.68)

Nguyen Thi Thu Ngan,
Chau Tuyet Van,
Nguyen Thi Le Kim

3) PHI – (7.67)

Ortega Rani Ann,
Lagman Ma. Carla Janice,
Calamba Mikeala

4) GER – (7.395)

Haas Sabrina Walburga,
Beaujean Claudia,
Stetter Samira Vanessa

TEAM Male’s under 29:

1) GER – (7.685)

Kesternich Roger,
Bogusch Patrick,
Wassmuth Adrian

2) CHN – (7.65)

Jiang Hong Guang,
Huang Song Ri,
Qiao Zhi

3) IRI – (7.62)

Beheshti Hossein,
Jamali Fashi Mahdi,
Naderi Mohammad

4) PHI – (7.55)

Sabido Jean Pierre,
Tinaya Galilee
Gabriel Vidal Marvin

TEAM Female’s over 29:

1) GER (7.43)

Delli Santi Raffaella,
Bussmann Tanya,
Gruber Andrea Daniela

2) COL (7.30)

Vasquez Muñoz Arelis,
Echavarria Zapata Lina Maria,
Audelo Olga

3) TPE (7.29)

Tseng Jui Hsiang,
Chang Han Wen,
Wu Chi Lin

4) RUS (7.20)

Volkova Natalia,
Parfenenko Tatiana,
Tipliakova Natalia

TEAM Male’s over 29:

1) IRI (7.85)

Zahedi Haghigui Gilani Seyed Hassan,
Akhlaghi Ahmad,
Salmani Azarkhavarani All

2) EGY (7.60)

Abdelhamid Yehia,
Metwalli Abd El-Fattah,
Mostafa Hamza Ahmed

3) TPE (7.39)

Chen Shuang Hsia,
Lin Ho Pin,
Wang Li Chung

4) COL (7.18)

Perez Cuellar Hernando,
Munevar Garzon Marco Antonio
Diaz Romero Oscar Arid

TEAM Free Style:

1) VIE (7.97)

Le Thanh Trung,
Nguyen Thien Phung,
Nguyen Thi Thu Ngan,
Chau Tunet Van,
Nguyen Thuy Xuan Linh

2) PHI (7.70)

Guzman Hernesto,
Tinaya Galilee,
Gabriel Vidal Marvin,
Ortega Rani Ann,
Lagman Ma. Carla Janice

3) CHN (7.67)

Luo Qiusheng,
Hu Mingda,
Yuan Xing,
Quan Xue Yan,
Zhu Mengxue

4) USA (7.47)

Nguyen Anh,
Nguyen Tuong-Long,
Han Kody,
Cruz Hazel,
Rodriguez Ann Bernadette