Turkey’s Black Sea coast is famed for its storied legends and heroic sagas, and from Sept. 18-20, 2015, the WTF brought its own brand of legendary action to the seaside resort of Samsun with the second Grand Prix of the year.
The event featured three days of combat as 232 of the world’s top taekwondo fighters from 50 countries competed at the Yasar Dogu Spor Salonu arena.
Of the eight gold medals up for grabs, Russia won two, while China, Great Britain, Iran, Korea, Portugal and the United States each took one. And – as if to reinforce that there is nothing certain in the sport of taekwondo – not a single gold medal winner from the Moscow Series 1 Grand Prix was able to repeat his/her feat in Samsun.
In the women’s -67kg category final, Anastasia Baryshnikova took on China’s Hua Zhang. The Russian took an early one point lead then added another as she found her distance, winning the first round 2-0. Round two started faster with the Russian girl picking off her opponent with two more fast points, varying her front-leg attacks with a rear-leg round kick. Zhang managed to claw back two points, but the round ended 5-2 to Baryshnikova. The third started with both girls wielding their front legs; the Chinese girl scored again, with a round kick fired from the clinch. With Zhang on the attack, the Russian displayed some lively circular foot work to keep out of her firing range. At the end Zhang was using every weapon and almost chasing her opponent round the ring, but Baryshnikova’s work rate early in the match paid off: She hung on for a 5-3 victory.
Bronzes went to Turkey’s Nur Tatar and Irem Yaman.
In the women’s +67kg division, Great Britain’s Bianca Walkden faced Team USA’s Jackie Galloway. Both adopted side-on, defensive stances and kept at long distance, firing ineffectual kicks. The referee demanded action, but the round ended with the board empty. In round two, Walkden opened the scoring with a well-timed punch that caught the American girl as she was advancing, and held on to the lead, 1-0. Round 3 saw more action. Galloway evened things in a flurry and as the final seconds counted down, both coaches were yelling instructions to their fighters. To no avail: the match went to golden point. Walkden went straight on the offensive, delivering stabbing side kicks. Her coach called for a head kick: no score. Combat restarted – and it was Galloway who took point, match and gold.
Macedonia’s Petra Matiajesevic and Croatia’s Iva Rados won bronzes.
The highest-scoring fight of the evening was the final of the men’s +80kg category, where Korea’s Chol-ho Jo took on Iran’s Sajjad Mardani. Neither player felt the need to feel each other out: Both opened the scoring with helmet-jarring head kicks. But it was the Korean who looked both more active and dangerous, fighting forward with a machine-gun array of kicks. There was a brief freeze – an edge-of-mat war of nerves, with the Iranian trying to force the Korean back – before both men sprung back into high-kicking action. The round ended 6-3 to Jo. In the second, Jo – proving very, very quick for a heavyweight – raised the score to 7-3, then added three more points; he briefly exulted, drawing cheers from an impressed crowd. His kicks were scorching: One connected to the Iranian’s PSS with a thwack that echoed across the arena. Round 2 finished 12-4 to Jo. In the third, the Korean stole yet another point with a front leg side kick. Mardani was finally getting back into the game, winning points with punches and body kicks – but being so far behind in the scoring, he had left things late. An arcing crescent kick would have beheaded Jo if it had landed, but the Korean ducked under. The match ended 14-8 to Jo; a convincing victory against such a professional opponent.
Dmitriy Shokin of Uzbekistan and Volker Wodzich of Germany settled for the bronzes.
The women’s -48 finals pitched China’s double Olympic medalist Jingyu Wu against Thailand’s Panipak Wongpattanakit. A lot of female finals start with cautious foot fencing and jabbing, but the two Asian Amazons commenced battle at a killer pace. The Thai held center ring while Wu, looking relaxed but not standing still for a second, danced around the perimeter of the octagon, constantly applying her foot to her opponent’s head. The Thai girl returned fire in kind, aiming high. The ferocity of the combat may be judged from the fact that Wongpattanakit visited the mat twice, Wu once. The first round ended with the kind of score more commonly seen at the end of a match: 12-5. Round 2’s action recommenced with both girls showcasing an awesome work rate; Wu looked particularly sharp, landing a textbook ax kick squarely on the Thai athlete’s face. Racking up the points, Wu took the score up to 18-8. Wongpattanakit picked up a point in a flurry keeping her in the game – she was in danger of going out on 12-point difference. The Thai coach appealed a headshot but there was no score, leaving the round to conclude at 18-9. Round 3 looked like a rerun of Round 1, with both girls again unleashing machine-gun kicks and with the Thai again dominating the center of the mats while Wu danced round the perimeter, hitting, running and taking the score to 20-9. The Thai pulled her score up to 12 with a headshot but the Chinese Olympian continued to add points. The match was halted when Wu hit 24, taking the final on 12- point difference. It was a masterly performance by Wu – winning a Grand Prix final in such a remarkable manner against such a quality opponent.
In the men’s -58kg final, Levent Tuncat of Germany took on Rui Braganca of Portugal. Tuncat is one of the most exciting fighters on the circuit, with an aggressive, spinning style; Braganca, on the other hand, is a master of the front-leg counterattack. Round 1 started with both lads competing for the middle of the ring with the crowd solidly behind Tuncat – a German of Turkish ancestry. Braganca looked wickedly fast as he played his front leg game, opening the scoring with a two-point lead before the German returned fire with a spinning back kick for three points. Round 1 ended 3-2 to Tuncat. As action got underway in the second, Braganca soon levelled it to 3-3 then the action slowed down: Both men tried to feint and psyche each other out, firing off front leg twisting kicks to the body protector – a rarely seen technique – in a war of nerves. Even so, camera close-ups showed both men grinning at each other, apparently enjoying the fight, a rarity with these Grand Prix events now being such important waystations on each athlete’s personal road to Rio. In Round 3, Tuncat seemed frustrated at not being able to get past Braganca’s front leg, held at the high chamber and constantly stabbing out with side kicks, twist kicks and push kicks. Going for a big score, a flashing spin heel kick from the German failed to connect by a whisker – then a kyunggo took the Portuguese fighter up to four points. Throwing caution to the winds, both men upped their game: A flurry of spins ended 5-3 to Braganca. Now the match was down to 30 seconds. Employing some crafty footwork, Tuncat maneuvered his opponent to the edge of the mats where he unleashed a series of spinning back and heel kicks – whirling both clockwise and counterclockwise, an extraordinary feat of athleticism. Braganca, fighting on the very edge of the field of play, responded in kind with a storm of spinning kicks himself. The crowd gasped, but this edge-of-mat whirlwind ended as both players’ coaches appealed for head kicks. It was the Portugese who won the replay, taking the score to 8-4. With seven short seconds left on the clock, Tuncent went airborne, spinning across the mats and forcing Braganca out of the area, but time was up: The buzzer sounded, leaving the final score at 8-4 – giving Braganca the win and the gold.
China’s Shuai Zhao and Aregentina’s Lucas Guzman won bronzes.
The final of the male -80kg class saw Mahdi Khohabakhshi of Iran squaring off against Cheick Salleh Cisse of Cote d’Ivoire. The Iranian is possibly the most dominant fighter in taekwondo and a superstar in Iran, a powerhouse of the sport, while Cisse had just arrived in Samsun the same day, having competed in the African Games. The two competitors stalked onto the mats – where Cisse stunned the crowd by withdrawing from the competition. The unexpected pullout granted the Iranian master kicker probably his easiest gold medal ever.
Iran’s Masoud Hajizavareh and Italy’s Roberto Botta shared bronzes.
In the finals of the female -57kg category, Great Britain’s Jade Jones squared off against Chinese Taipei’s Yun-wen Huang. The match started with Jones – who had been looking razor-sharp in the preliminaries and semis – fighting forward and pressuring the Chinese girl backward, forcing her to employ some evasive footwork. Jones drew first blood with a body kick, varying her front leg attack both high and low. She grabbed another point during a scrappy edge of mats exchange; it was deducted for holding, but she soon racked up another point, ending the round 2-0. In Round 2, both girls battled for the center of the mats, in tight, front-leg exchanges with Jones extending her lead with a side kick to the torso. Another Jones side kick connected.
It failed to score on the PSS, but won her a point as it dumped Huang on the deck. After grabbing another point, the British girl ended the second round comfortably ahead, 5-0. Huang came out aggressively in the third, trying to force Jones on her back leg and off the mats, but Jones was not intimidated, replying with head and body shots, racking up another point with yet another strong side kick to the body. Huang finally found an angle that bypassed Jones’ defense during a flurry on the edge of the mats, taking the board to 6-1, then 6-2. The Chinese girl gamely unleashed head shots and hammering side kicks, but Jones was unwilling to give up ground, and the fight went to close quarters. A beautifully timed side push kick dropped Huang, but did not score. Huang pressured Jones out of the area, taking her score to three points, but Jones had timed things perfectly, taking the match and the gold with a comfortable 6-3 victory.
Great Britain’s Rachelle Booth and Sweden’s Nikita Glasinovic had to settle for bronzes in the category.
In the finals of the men’s -68kg category, Saul Gutierrez of Mexico did battle with Russia’s Alexey Denisenko.
The action started with Denisenko – one of the most exciting athletes on the circuit – adopting a low, give-no-ground stance while Gutierrez danced on the balls of his feet. Both men stabbed at each other’s bodies with jab kicks, but it was the Mexican who landed first. The score rose in Gutierrez’s favor when, in the closing seconds, he landed a hooking heel kick to the back of the Russian’s head. Denisenko shot back with a wicked combination – a mid-level round kick and a second round kick off the other leg to the head – bringing the scoreboard to 4-5 to the Mexican. Round 2 started with both men looking more aggressive, Denisenko firing his patented one-two, front leg-back leg round kick serial attack. The Russian went for an ax kick; Gutierrez came forward; and Denisenko landed on the mats, taking the board to 6-4. Thus far, it had been the Mexican setting the tempo, but now Denisenko switched up a gear: A picture-perfect step side kick that staggered Gutierrez won him another point, 5-6, then he levelled it to six points each. With his target radar now locked on, Denisenko impacted with a round kick to the head, putting him ahead 9-6. Gutierrez was warned for holding, giving Denisenko a 10-6 point lead at the end of the second. At the opening of the third, Gutierrez launched a crafty kick to the body then hooked his heel up to the Russian’s face in a fine display of timing and dexterity, bringing the board to 9-10. But Denisenko was not about to relinquish his lead and scored again, 11-9. In a clinch, he landed a counter kick for 12 points and the Russian supporters – sniffing victory – began roaring. Densinko was now fully in game-on mode, dropping his opponent with a high side kick. With just 15 seconds remaining, the Mexican upped his attack, winning another point, but the match was in its dying seconds. Gutierrez’s coach clawed back some breathing space by appealing; it was rejected. Three seconds now remained on the clock. Gutierrez hurtled forward, backing Denisenko out of the ring for a point. Then, as combat restarted and Gutierrez lunged into a last-ditch charge, the buzzer sounded, delivering a 12-11 victory to the Russian.
Iran’s Abolfazl Yaghoubijouybari and Korea’s Dae-hoon Lee went home with bronzes.
Any on-mat enmities were forgotten as the athletes finished the Grand Prix with a party at a bar/club overlooking the Black Sea; merriment ran well into the wee hours. The following day, the bar owner expressed his delight; he had never had such a large and friendly crowd of foreign clients in his venue before, he said.
That’s taekwondo.
