The 2011 WTF World Taekwondo Championships Gyeongju is held in Gyeongju, South Korea from May 1 to May 6, 2011. During this time, Vietnam Taekwondo Federation and Korean Taekwondo Association signed a contract for training young athletes together.
According to Mr. Truong Ngoc De, the Vice President and General Secretary of Vietnam Taekwondo Federation, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will come into operation after six months and be valid for five years. This event is expected to be a tremendous opportunity for the young athletes in Vietnam to exchange experience with Korean athletes.
Back to the 2011 world championships, after two days of competition, May 1 and May 2, the Vietnamese athletes all lost because they have not had much experience in competing in a major championship like this. Doan Thi Huong Giang (49kg) was beaten 1-4 by Mali’s Traore Aminata Makou.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Thao (53kg) built a 11-7 lead over Mozambique’s Jarisse Vanessa, but lost 1-13 to Morocco’s Bekkali Lamyaa. Chu Hoang Dieu Linh got a victory over Cossa Alegre Patricia from Sao Tome and Principe, but was defeated by Elmeslahy Hakima from Morocco with a 1-6 result. It is a great pity for Luong Minh Dat that he lost 1-2 to the Iraqi athlete, Kadhim Ali because of the “sudden death” rule in the first round.
On this occasion, Gyeongju city has been operating many different cultural events and a special tour program named “Finding Footsteps of Taekwondo” to help the athlete delegations and tourists learn more about the history and artifacts related to Taekwondo.
