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Close match
India’s women taekwondo player Shreya Singh fought valiantly against her formidable Korean opponent Lee Wonjim, but had to finish on the losing side, going down narrowly 6-7 in the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s 76- kg category at the Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium on Thursday. The 17-year-old Indian fought hard in the opening round with her kicks, and trailed Lee by a solitary point. Shreya came out all guns blazing in the second round winning five points and countered the aggression of the Korean to lead 5-4 at the end of the second round. The third and final round saw Lee hold her nerve as she gleaned three points, while the Indian managed only one point through penalty.
Thus, the Indian taekwondo contingent drew a blank at the Incheon Asian Games.
Earlier, India’s hopes of a winning a medal were dashed when Nakul Malhotra lost his +87-kg quarterfinal bout to Lebanon’s El Hedari Elias. Nakul, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2006 Doha Asian Games, and subsequently did not feature at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, fought hard in the first two rounds as both players failed to win any points.
Other results
Aarti Khakal bowed out in the 57-kg category losing to Kazakhstan’s Alzak Ganiya 8-15. Two Indian taekwondo players – Latika Bhandari and Jasvant gave a glimmer of medal hope by reaching the quarterfinals in their respective weight categories. Latika – featuring in the women’s 53-kg category – lost to Korea’s Yoon Jeongyeon(KOR) 1-13 in a lop-sided bout. The 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games had accounted for Radzhabova Farzona of Tajikistan 7-2 in her opening round.
Jasvant’s medal hopes were crushed when he surrendered meekly to Iran’s Hajizavareh Masoud(IRI) 0-8 in the last eight stage. Jasvant, who had featured in the Guangzhou Asian Games, got the better of Lebanon’s Samaha Michel 4-1 in the first round. Anand Pandia Rajan continued India’s losing sequence going down to Park Yonghyun of Korea in another one-sided contest – 1-7 in the men’s 80-kg category.
It may be mentioned that the Indian taekwondo team drew a blank at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. Taekwondo gave the country’s first Asian Games medal at the 2002 edition in Busan, when Surendra Bhandari bagged a bronze in the men’s 58-kg category.
