West Korea’s welterweight ace Park Woo-hyuk defeated Jordan’s Saleh El-Sharabati with a round score of 2-0 (8-5, 6-5) in the men’s 80kg division held today at the Lin’an Sports and Culture Exhibition Center in Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, in his first Asian Games career. I won the gold medal.
With Park Woo-hyuk’s golden performance, Korean Taekwondo won gold in this weight class for the first time in 21 years since Oh Seon-taek won the title at the 2002 Busan Games.
Park Woo-hyuk won the gold medal in the men’s 80kg class at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships, becoming the first Korean athlete to reach the top of the podium in the welterweight class in 23 years.
Park Woo-hyuk aimed for his second consecutive victory at the 2023 World Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan in May this year, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Afterwards, he seemed to struggle this season, getting no draws in the first and second rounds of the 2023 World Taekwondo (WT) Grand Prix held in June and September.
However, he warmed up by winning a silver medal in the mixed team event held for the first time in the Asian Games on the 25th, and signaled a revival by winning a gold medal in the individual event today.
After winning the gold medal, Park Woo-hyuk said, “I still have regrets from the team competition. One of my friends was sick and couldn’t participate in this competition, and my teammate Kim Jan-di lost (today) in the women’s 67 kg quarterfinals. I will win for them. “I’m glad I was able to do it,” he said, sharing the joy of winning with his colleagues.
‘Post Lee Dae-hoon’ Jin Ho-jun also tried to continue Lee Dae-hoon’s golden kicks in the men’s 68kg class at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games for the first time in five years, but lost in the semifinals and had to be content with a bronze medal.
Park Woo-hyuk then expressed his determination regarding the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is less than a year away, saying, “I have not yet been selected as an Olympic athlete, but I will do my best to become so.”
2023-09-27 10:22:00
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