There was double joy for hosts Jordan with Saleh Al-Sharabati and Juliana Al-Sadeq clinching Olympic berths at the two-day 2021 Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament which ended in the capital Amman on Saturday.
Al-Sharabati successfully came through two rounds to reach the final in the men’s under 80kg category to claim his Olympic berth. His colleague Al-Sadeq came through in the women’s under 67kg class.
The 22-year-old Al-Sharabati defeated Wael Al-Farraj, who was representing the Refugee Olympic Team, 26-1, in the quarterfinals and then brushed aside Akbar Aitakhunov of Kyrgyzstan, 36-6, in the semi-finals to book a place in the final. Al-Sadeq secured her berth without raising any sweat after her Bhutanese opponent withdrew from the competition.
The finalists in each of the four weight classes in both the men’s and women’s competitions qualified for the July 23-August 8 Tokyo Olympics. A total of 84 athletes from 28 countries and regions participated in the Jordan qualifiers.
Chinese Taipei was the most successful team winning four tickets to the Olympics. In the men’s competition, Huang Yu-jen (under 68kg) and Liu Wei-teng (under 80kg) qualified while, in the women’s competition, Su Po-ya (under 49kg) and Lo Chia-ling (under 57kg) came through.
Uzbekistan won three tickets with Ulugbek Rashitov in the men’s under-68kg category and Nigora Tursunkulova (women’s under 67kg) and Svetlana Osipova (women’s over 67kg) successful.
Kazakhstan’s 2018 Asian Games silver medallist Cansel Deniz won an Olympic berth in the women’s over 67 kg and was joined by compatriot Ruslan Zhaparov, 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist, who came through in the men’s over 80kg class.
Athletes from Thailand, the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Iran also won through.
2021 Asian Taekwondo Olympic Qualification Tournament
Qualified Athletes
Men
Under 58kg: Ramnarong Sawekwiharee (Thailand), Kurt Barbosa (Philippines)
Under 68kg: Huang Yu-jen (Chinese Taipei), Ulugbek Rashitov (Uzbekistan)
Under 80kg: Saleh Al-Sharabati (Jordan), Liu Wei-teng (Chinese Taipei)
Over 80kg: Ruslan Zhaparov (Kazakhstan), Sun Hongyi (China)
Women
Under 49kg: Truong Thi Kim Tuyen (Vietnam), Su Po-ya (Chinese Taipei)
Under 57kg: Nahid Kiani (Iran), Lo Chia-ling (Chinese Taipei)
Under 67kg: Juliana Al-Sadeq (Jordan), Nigora Tursunkulova (Uzbekistan)
Over 67 kg: Cansel Deniz (Kazakhstan), Svetlana Osipova (Uzbekistan)
