[Asian Games] Taekwondo Poomsae, Korea Wins First Gold Medal... Sweeps Men's and Women's Individual Events

Men's Division Kang Wanjin · Women's Division Cha Yeeun

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kang Wanjin (Hongcheon County Office), a Korean Taekwondo Poomsae athlete, won the first gold medal for the South Korean delegation at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. Cha Ye-eun also secured a gold medal consecutively in the women's Taekwondo Poomsae, sweeping both the men's and women's individual events.

On the afternoon of the 24th, Kang Wanjin defeated Taiwan's Ma Yunzhong in the men's individual Taekwondo Poomsae final held at the Lin'an Sports Culture Exhibition Center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

Kang Wanjin scored 8.000 and 7.460 points in the first and second rounds of the final, which consisted of the recognized Poomsae Goryeo and freestyle Poomsae, respectively, beating Ma Yunzhong who scored 7.880 and 7.080 points.

Kang Wanjin, who won a gold medal in the men's team event at the Asian Games five years ago, also enjoyed the joy of a consecutive victory.

Soon after, Cha Ye-eun (Kyung Hee University) brought another gold medal to the South Korean delegation. Cha Ye-eun defeated Japan's Niwa Yuiko in the women's individual final held at the same venue as the men's event that day, claiming the top spot in Asia.

Cha Ye-eun scored 7.860 and 7.220 points in the first and second rounds of the final, which consisted of the recognized Poomsae Goryeo and freestyle Poomsae, respectively, surpassing Niwa who scored 7.620 and 6.700 points.

Poomsae competitions are held in a 12m by 12m arena, and the scores are determined by averaging the five middle scores after removing the highest and lowest from seven judges.

In this tournament, both rounds 1 and 2 up to the quarterfinals were performed with recognized Poomsae, while the semifinals and finals consisted of round 1 with recognized Poomsae and round 2 with freestyle Poomsae.

[Image source=Yonhap News]