Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| National taekwondo team athletes practice poomsae, an attack and defense pattern in the sport, during the Media Day event at the National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province on Aug. 8. Yonhap |
By Kang Aa-young
Taekwondo is one of the sports that helped South Korea win big in previous Asian Games. It is one of the five "good sports" that earned the nation numerous gold medals. The other four are archery, fencing, wrestling and judo.
South Korea's expectations toward taekwondo for the forthcoming Jakarta Palembang Asian Games are high. The national team aims to bag at least nine gold medals out of 12 taekwondo events.
South Korea aims to achieve second place with 65 gold medals, 71 silver and 72 bronze at the Asiad. If this is fulfilled, it will be the nation's sixth consecutive second place since the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.
South Korean athletes' taekwondo performance is critical to acheive that goal.
Taekwondo became an official sport in the 1986 Asian Games held in Seoul.
South Korea dominated the sport _ it has since won 53 out of 96 gold medals, followed by Iran which has secured 12 golds.
Challenges remain. Taekwondo has undergone a standardization process to meet world standards and remove the home advantage, which made it harder for South Korea to maintain the medal tally it achieved in the past.
However this disadvantage didn't stop the national team from staying atop the medal tally in taekwondo.
South Korea earned six gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. At that time, 16 gold medals were up for grabs, but the number of gold medals available has been reduced to 12 _ five each for the men's and the women's _ at the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games.
"We aim to clinch six gold medals in sparring, but we think we can win up to seven," said Kim Jong-ki, head coach of the South Korean taekwondo national team at a media event at the National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, Wednesday.
"We think our hard work will be paid off this time."
For this year's Asian game, poomsae, an attack-and-defense pattern in taekwondo, will be contested. Four gold medals will be offered in poomsae at the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games.
Ten medals will be offered for sparring, also known as "kyorugi," in Korean, including five categories for men and five for women.
There will be a better chance for Korea to win gold, as the number of events for taekwondo has grown.
.jpg/dims/resize/740/optimize) |
| Lee Dae-hoon |
Gold medal favorites
Some athletes said they aim to show more than a strong performance during the Games.
"I want to show a powerful game," said Lee Dae-hoon. He is a two-time Asian Games champion in the men's 63-kilogram division. "I want to impress those who don't know taekwondo by powerful kicks and make them think the sport is interesting to watch."
Lee, 26, is one of South Korea's gold medal favorites. If he wins another gold, he will be the first taekwondo competitor to win gold in three Asian Games in a row. Kim Tae-hoon, who will compete in the men's 58-kilogram division, is another gold medal favorite in the men's event.
On the women's side, Kang Bo-ra, 17, is an unrivaled competitor in the 49-kilogram division.
During the Media Day, the teen said she was anxious to compete at the Asian Games. "I think there will be no problems for me to win a gold if I do what I have done in practice games," she said.
Lee Da-bin, 22, is another female South Korean athlete who is expected to add a gold medal in taekwondo.
The taekwondo national team has drawn keen public attention because of some athletes' interesting background. Park Jae-eun, who will compete in poomsae, is one of the athletes.
Before joining the national team, Park was a member of the K-Tigers, a taekwondo performing dance group. She changed her career path from a performer to an athlete when she was a third-year high school student and the Jakarta Asian Games is her first international taekwondo competition.
Park said she began learning taekwondo when she was a child. "I was shy and timid when I was young and my parents allowed me to practice taekwondo because they thought the martial art would help me become confident and fearless," she said. Park said she would do her best at the Asian Games. "In poomsae, athletes can achieve as much as they want if they work hard," she said.
"Hard work never betrays us."
