World Taekwondo Federation Team World Cup Finals, China mixed team team went straight to the Paris Olympics.
On December 19th, the finals of the 2023 World Taekwondo Team World Cup Championship officially started in Wuxi Economic Development Zone, with nine teams including China. After a day of fierce competition, China won the championship, Uzbekistan won the runner-up, and Brazil and Daejeon City Hall won the third place. As this competition is a straight-through qualification trial for the mixed team exhibition of the Paris Olympic Games, according to the pre-competition regulations, the champion China and the runner-up Uzbekistan took the lead in locking in the qualification for the mixed team exhibition of Taekwondo in the Paris Olympic Games. The two third-place teams were judged according to the total score advantage of the audience, and Brazil won the last place to go straight to Paris.
The World Taekwondo Team World Cup Championship is an event founded in Wuxi, and the World Taekwondo Federation will settle in Wuxi for the annual World Cup finals. The rules and competition system of mixed team events have also been explored and shaped in this event. At present, Taekwondo mixed team events have been an Olympic performance event for two consecutive years (Tokyo and Paris), and have become an official event in the Asian Games and Youth Olympic Games. At this year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, China won the championship of this event.
China team sent Jay Song, Zhou Zeqi, Xing Jiani, Cui Yang, Xiang Qizhang and Meng Mingkuan to participate in this tournament. According to the rules of mixed team competition, athletes can only be composed of two men and two women in each competition. Two women generals, Jay Song and Zhou Zeqi, and two men, Cui Yang and Meng Mingkuan, will form the final team against Uzbekistan. According to the principle of male before female, from light to heavy, the four athletes were numbered from 1 to 4 respectively.
The game is divided into three games. The first game lasts for 4 minutes, and the traditional team competition form is adopted. Athletes should compete with athletes of the same number from the other side in the order of light to heavy, and each pair of competitions lasts for 1 minute. The last two games are 3 minutes each. The competition is played in the form of free rotation confrontation. In the battle, the sexes of the athletes of both sides should match. There is no limit to the number of substitutions, but before proposing a replacement, one’s own player should play for at least 15 seconds.
In the first game, Jay Song, who took the lead in the game, scored points in a row, helping the China team to start at 9:0. However, Uzbekistan, with good strength, continued to chase after points, and once overtook at 14:10. Cui Yang scored a precious 3 points at the last moment of his game, followed by Meng Mingkuan, and China led at 16:14 in the first game. In the second game, the two teams played very closely, and the score was alternately ahead. The two games were tied to 20.
After the third game was tied at 24, the China team made a sudden effort, and several players performed extremely well, scoring 11 points in a row to lay the foundation for victory. In the end, China won the championship with 36:30. After the game, Zhou Zeqi said that the game could be won mainly by uniting with everyone and implementing the tactics arranged by the coach. Meng Mingkuan, who participated in the team competition for the first time, said that his task was not to let the other team score. "The performance was ok." Finally, according to the cumulative scores obtained by the two teams in the third game, the outcome was judged.
From December 13th, the 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Slam Championship Series, the 2023 World Taekwondo Grand Slam Series and the 2023 World Taekwondo Team World Cup Championship Finals were held one after another. The three important international competitions are all through cards for the Paris Olympic Games. Among them, the first two competitions produce eight through qualifications for individual taekwondo events and the latter one produces three through qualifications for mixed team events. A total of five competition days, in Wuxi Economic Development Zone, a blessed place, the China team got a full harvest, including the through cards for men’s 68kg class, women’s 57kg class, 67kg class and over 67kg class, and obtained a through Olympic quota for a mixed team Olympic exhibition.
Seize the opportunity, take the tournament as an opportunity, and rely on the World Taekwondo (Wuxi) Center, Wuxi will further improve the operation mode of the whole industry chain of Taekwondo, promote the further flourishing of Taekwondo in China, and actively contribute to the development of global Taekwondo.
Source: China Daily.
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