Manchester is a city famed for both industry and sport, and for the WTF’s Grand Prix Series 3, it did exactly what an industrial expert would expect: It took a successful product, made a minimum of alterations and delivered a brilliant sporting spectacle.
A total of 237 athletes from 56 countries competed for top honors at the event, which ran over three days, from October 16-18. At the conclusion of the competition, China was the only country to capture two golds, while France, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Korea, Tunisia and Uzbekistan all took home one each.
Manchester is the home base of Great Britain’s taekwondo team, and the GP venue, the Manchester Regional Arena, stands in the shadow of the famous Manchester City football stadium. Inside the darkened hall, matches took place on an illuminated center ring, with rolling LED ad boards showcasing sponsor brands, the WTF Grand Prix slogan “Here Come the Champions” and the Olympic battle cry “Every Road to Rio.” Throbbing music, swirling spotlights and the thunderous “voice of taekwondo” - ring-announcer Andy Ashworth, himself a Manchester native – combined to generate an explosive atmosphere.
This combination of elements made the British city, which had hosted the first-ever taekwondo Grand Prix event in 2014, a benchmark host for future GPs.
In the finals of the men’s -68kg, Abolfazl “Mr Unpredictable” Yaghoubijouybari of Iran - who had been fighting with wicked venom and accuracy all day, and who had earlier defeated taekwondo legend Servet Tazegul in an awesome golden-point match – took on Korea’s Dae-hoon Lee, who had previously dispatched teammate Hun Kim in the semifinal. Lee started the match firing off a barrage of kicks, but it was the Iranian who found the range and took an early two-point lead. The Korean shot back, but Yaghoubijouybari soon regained his advantage with a perfectly placed punch, ending the round 3-1. In the second, Lee regained his composure. In a masterly display of ring control, he maneuvered his opponent to the edge of the mats and landed a head shot, putting him ahead. From then on, the match went Lee’s way, all the way. Yaghoubijouybari almost got back into the game with a spin kick, but Lee was offering the crowd a cool-headed display of varied technique, scoring to both body and head. The fight ended 7-16 to the Korean, whose relaxed demolition of the Iranian showed why he was named the WTF’s “Male Player of the Year” in 2014.
Servet Tazegul of Turkey and Hun Kim of Korea won bronzes.
The female -67kg final pitted Nur “The Amazon” Tartar of Turkey against Haby “The Abigator” Niare of France. Both girls started at a fast pace, firing head shots with real intent but failing to score. The match then settled down to a cagier tactical game, with the first round ending 0-0. In Round 2 Niare – drew first blood with a turning kick to the body. Then she landed the same technique again, ending Round 2 two points up. In the third, Tatar had to increase her work rate, but it was Niare who added to her score – landing yet another turning kick after evading a spin kick from the Turk. Tatar launched an all-out offensive but had left it too late as the seconds ticked away. Although she clawed back a point in the final seconds it was “The Abigator” who took match and gold, 3-1.
Chia-chia Chuang of Chinese Taipei and Hye-ri Oh of Korea took bronzes.
In the male +80kg final, Dmitriy Shokin of Uzbekistan did battle with Rafael Castillo of Cuba. This was a clash of styles as much as a clash of men: The powerful Uzbek is a master front-leg and fist fighter, while the leggy Cuban is a power kicker with a significant height advantage. Both heavyweights came out fighting, launching kicks landing with shock impact, with the Cuban looking more flamboyant. But the PSS was not registering, and the round ended scoreless. In Round 2, Shokin took center ring and gave no ground to Castillo, who was trying to land head kicks. Castillo scored the first point, taking the second round 1-0. In the third, The Uzbek chased the Cuban out of the ring for a penalty, but was not landing any kicks. Then, in virtually the last second, the Cuban went down for another penalty, evening the score to 1-1. So it was golden point. At the outset, the Uzbek suffered a penalty for turning his back against one of the Cuban’s onslaughts. Castillo seemed to be landing body kicks, but the PSS was not registering. Shokin landed a punch – yet again, no score. The two men fought into close range then Shokin unleashed another punch and that was it: a hard-fought gold for the Uzbek.
Arman-Marshall Silla of Belarus and Omid Amidi of Iran had to be satisfied with bronzes.
In the finals of the female –49kg division, China’s Jingyu Wu - who WTF TV Commentator Mike McKenzie dubs “pound-for-pound, the most stylish female athlete out there” - squared off with Chanatip Sonkham of Thailand. Round 1 started with both girls foot fencing with range-finding kicks. After a flurry, the Thai coach requested a video replay for a head kick; it was denied. Wu drew first blood with a jump spin back kick to the body, followed shortly afterwards with a body kick, then a round kick to the head delivered another three points. Round 1 ended 7-0 to Wu. Round 2 started with the Thai applying forward pressure and Wu backpedaling around the mats – but scoring consistently on Sonkham while relying on her footwork to carry her out of the Thai’s range. Picking off her opponent with sniper-like accuracy, Wu took the board to 8-0, 9-0, 10-0, 11-0 and finally 12-0. There was no third round: The contest finished on point difference. The display of utter superiority over world-class opposition makes the Chinese girl look unassailable; she must surely be an odds-on favorite for her third Olympic gold in Rio.
Tijana Bogdanovic of Serbia and Azerbaijan’s Patimat Abakarova went home with bronzes.
The finals of the men’s -80kg pitted GB’s Lutalo Muhammad against Ousamma Oueslati of Tunisia. Muhammad had earlier overcome perennial favorite and world-ranked number one Mahdi “The Terminator” Khodabakhshi, who injured his ankle in their match, while Oueslati had defeated African favorite Cheick Sallah Cisse of Cote d’Ivoire in an action-packed, but penalty laden, match. Round 1 opened in cagey style with both lads adopting similar rear-weighted, backward-leaning stances. In an exchange of turning kicks, Oueslati scored first, then again with a whippy front-leg body kick.
The round ended 2-0 to the Tunisian. In Round 2, Muhammad tried to land his ax kick, but was unable to overcome the height disadvantage. Fighting forward, he forced his opponent out of the area, but the Tunisian, after slowly regaining his feet, accelerated the action and extended his lead to 3-0, 4-0 then 5-0. Finally, Muhammad - a master of combination attacks –found his distance and seized three points in the last seconds of the round with a series of round kicks. Round 2 ended 3-6. In the final round, Muhammad visited the mats while the scoreboard rose to 7-3. The Briton uncorked a series of spinning attacks and raised his score to 5-8, but the Tunisian landed a head kick. Muhammad attacked forward and picked up a penalty but the Tunisian scored with yet another head kick. The final score was 16-6, and victory for Oueslati.
Khodabakhshi of Iran and Cisse of Cote d’Ivoire both won bronzes.
The final of the female -57kg category was what the Manchester crowd had been waiting for: It pitted Eva Calvo Gomez of Spain, the world number two, against hometown favorite Jade Jones of GB – the latest clash in one of taekwondo’s fiercest rivalries. Action started at a fast pace in a back-and-forth contest with both athletes wielding front leg kicks, but with neither finding the range; the round ended 0-0. At the start of Round 2, Calvo Gomez, backed onto the edge of the mats, connected first for a one-point lead.
Then a round kick to Jones’ head put the Spanish athlete 4-0 up. Jones clawed back a single point with a strike to the torso, but things were looking grim for the hometown girl until - at the start of a remarkable series, Jones equalized with one of her patented round kicks to the head. Jones is known as a headhunter, but nobody expected her to land another one just seconds later and - as the crowd erupted into cheers - yet another, giving her a 10-4 lead at the end of the second. Round 3 opened with heavy combat; both girls hit the deck in a tangle of limbs. After action restarted, a side kick to the Spanish girl’s torso gave Jones anther point, 11-4. Then yet another head shot took the board up to 14-4 as the audience stamped and roared. In the last 30 seconds, Calvo Gomez was looking desperate, as Jones called all the shots. The match ended with a decisive 14-4 victory for the 2012 Olympic champ, who, having seized her second successive Grand Prix gold, is looking razor sharp.
Mayu Hamada of Japan and Nikita Glasinovic of Sweden went home with bronzes.
There was another hometown favorite in the female +67kg final, as Jones’ roommate, Bianca “Queen Bee” Walkden of GB, faced off against Shuyin Zheng of China. Round 1 started with Walkden looking livelier, but with the taller Zhang dominating center ring. Both girls felt each other out with probing kicks; the round ended 0-0. The second started with the Chinese girl looking busier and Walkden looking pained after a leg clash. Zheng drew first blood with a body kick, ending Round 2 one point up. Round 3 started with a higher work rate from both fighters but this time it was Walkden who was pressuring Zheng onto the back foot and onto the edge of the area. With just over 30 seconds on the clock, Walkden connected with a body kick, equalizing to 1-1. The crowd stamped in the stands, creating a rolling thunder as the third ended – taking the fight to golden point for the gold medal. In extra time, Zheng connected with a head kick. Almost unbelieving, the Chinese athlete dropped to her knees and thrust her arms into the air, exulting in a victory against a fighter backed by a very vocal crowd.
Turkey’s Nafia “The Amazon” Kus and Serbia’s Milica Mandic won bronze medals.
In the male -58kg division, Nursultan Mamayev of Kazakhstan won a ticket to the final when Tae-hun Kim of Korea was unable to take part in his semifinal match due to injury. That put him into the last match against Jesus Tortosa Cabrera of Spain. In Round 1, the Spaniard won an early one-point lead with a stabbing leg jab, but the Kazakh shot back with a thwacking round kick to the torso - accompanied by a howling kihap. In the final seconds, both unleashed a series of kicks, taking successive points and the round ended 2-2. In Round 2 both men fired front-leg side and round kicks before the Kazakh scored – but the Spaniard equalized to 3-3. This was a match between a very, very closely matched pair.
Round 3 started with both connecting but neither scoring, but with the Kazakh looking fresher and lighter on his feet. He caught his opponent again with a back leg round kick – and yet again Tortosa Cabrera equalized! The Spanish athlete then lost a point for a shin block - and won it back with a punch.
Thus ended the round – and it went to golden point. The Spaniard was firing a barrage of front leg kicks but in a near-perfect display of timing, Mamayev unleashed a rear-leg round kick for point, match and gold.
Farzan Ashourzadeh Fallah of Iran and Korea’s Tae-hun Kim took bronzes.
One special guest at the event was none other than the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Paul Murphy, who appeared in full ceremonial regalia. “It’s marvelous,” an impressed Murphy said of the event. “Manchester is showing the way in terms of world sports!”
And not just sports. After the tournament had concluded, various attendees took advantage of Manchester’s famous night life - with the result that different groups bumped into each other at different downtown venues at different stages of what proved to be a long and merry evening.
