Korea takes two gold medals in taekwondo poomsae

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Korea takes two gold medals in taekwondo poomsae

Published: 24 Sep. 2023, 18:42 Updated: 24 Sep. 2023, 23:14

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Taekwondo practitioner Kang Wan-jin celebrates after winning a gold medal in the men's individual poomsae at the Hangzhou Asian Games at Lin'an Sports Culture & Exhibition Centre in Hangzhou, China on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Taekwondo practitioner Kang Wan-jin won Korea’s first gold medal of the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sunday, claiming the victory over Chinese Taipei’s Ma Yun Zhong in the men’s individual taekwondo poomsae final.

Poomsae is a sequence of taekwondo techniques linked together into a pattern of moves. The practitioner that performs it better earns more points from the judges.

A total of seven judges rate poomsae with the average score of five judges — excluding the judge with the highest score and the judge with the lowest score — given to the practitioner at the end.

The two practitioners competed at Lin'an Sports Culture & Exhibition Centre in Hangzhou, China and Kang scored 8 points in the first poomsae and 7.46 in the second, beating Zhong who managed 7.88 in the first and 7.08 in the second.

Team Korea immediately followed that success with another gold from female taekwondo practitioner Cha Yea-eun. She scored 7.86 in the first and 7.22 in the second round to beat Japanese competitor Niwa Yuiko, who managed 7.62 in the first and 6.7 in the second.

Poomsae does not have a weight limit like taekwondo matches do. The poomsae discipline of taekwondo is now over, with the men’s -58kg round and women’s 49kg to start from Monday.

Both disciplines will play through the knockout rounds and finals on Monday.

Taekwondo is one of the sports that Korea has the best chance of securing multiple medals in this year, as it has been the winningest country in the tournament with 84 medals to date.

Korea has won 60 golds, 16 silvers and eight bronzes since the 1986 Asiad in Seoul. They also claimed the most medals in 2018, winning five gold, five silver and two bronze.

Iran is the second-winningest country with 46 medals in total, with Chinese Taipei coming in third with 39.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]