7th WORLD UNIVERSITY TAEKWONDO CHAMPIONSHIP
Berkely, California, USA - June 12th to 15th, 2002
From June 12th to 15th, the University of California at Berkeley hosted the 7th edition of the World University Taekwondo Championship. This was the second time the event had taken place in this university. In fact, the very first edition was held there in 1986. The return of taekwondo to Berkeley was not a coincidence, since the university set up one of the most elaborate programmes in the United States. It took 22 of the 26 national titles and its athletes dominate the sport.
Berkeley is located 7 miles east of San Francisco on the edge of the bay. The Golden Gate Bridge, China Town and the fishing port are a few of San Francisco's attractions. 'Silicon Valley', that groups more than 90% of the nation's computer companies is one hour southwest of Berkeley, while Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel are a bit further south. Berkeley is a university town—the University of California at Berkeley is the oldest and largest of the 9 campuses in the UC system. The 'Walter A. Haas Jr. Pavillon' in the heart of the campus is a new stadium, with a capacity of 12,300, where most university meets are held. It includes ten dressing rooms, warm-up rooms, a swimming pool and relaxation areas. It is ideally located 3 km from the athletes' housing.
Participation on the Rise
The 2002 championship was a real success in terms of participation. Thirty one countries registered a record 113 men and 88 women. Since 1986, the year of the first edition, the number of participants has grown regularly from 20 to 31 countries. President Killian, who made the trip personally to attend the Opening Ceremony and some of the matches, declared that he was delighted to see that this sport is now among the most popular disciplines for University Championships.
The rise in the number of participating countries also coincided with a lesser ascendency of the Koreans, traditionally very powerful in this discipline. In fact, they took ten of the sixteen titles to be won in the previous edition, held in Kaohsiung in Chinese Taipei. This time, they won 'only' six titles out of eighteen, and in the men's meet only. The United States made a sensation with four gold medals in the women's competition. Other countries that stood out include Turkey, China Taipei, France, Puerto Rico and Spain just to mention the gold medals. This is an excellent thing that proves the growing international popularity of the sport, which may also be due to the enormous publicity provided during the Sydney Olympic games where taekwondo was included in the official sports for the first time.
Next Edition
The next World University Taekwondo Championship will be held in Patras, Greece from June 2nd to 6th, 2004.
PARTICIPATION
1. AUS - 4 2. BEL - 3 3. BRA - 13 4. CAN - 2 5. CHN - 22 6. CIV - 2 7. COD - 1 8. CZE - 1 9. ESP - 17 10. FIN - 1 11. FRA - 9 12. GER - 16 13. GRE - 18 14. GUA - 9 15. HKG - 10 16. IRL - 2 17. JPN - 14 18. KOR - 37 19. MEX - 23 20. MGL - 1 21. NEP - 3 22. PER - 7 23. POL - 6 24. PUR - 6 25. RUS - 7 26. SUI - 2 27. TJK - 1 28. TPE - 21 29. TRI - 1 30. TUR - 20 31. USA - 27 TOTAL: 306
FINAL RANKING
MEN
Fin Weight Division 1. Jin Hee Kim - Korea 2. Place Mu-Yen Chu - Chinese Taipei 3. Place Luis Alberto Donis Aragon - Guatemala 3. Boris Eduardo Carillo Torres - Mexico Fly Weight Division 1. Kivanc Dincsalman - Turkey 2. In Soo Park - Korea 3. Kristian Melendez - Puerto Rico 3. Tumay Hamza - Australia Bantam Weight Division 1. Kil Hwan Choi - Korea 2. Kadir Dolas - Turkey 3. Chun-Hsing Yeh - Chinese Taipei 3. Marcos Oliveira - Brazil Light Weight Division 1. Young Jun Sun - Korea 2. Yu-Lin Chen - Chinese Taipei 3. Garc Oscar Del Cueto - Mexico 3. Djan Guidini - Brazil Middle Weight Division 1. Mickael Borot - France 2. Ji Sang Yu - Korea 3. Yumin Zhang - People’s Republic of China 3. Chu-Hua Chang - Chinese Taipei Feather Weight Division 1. Yu-Chi Sung - Chinese Taipei 2. Mark Lopez - USA 3. Bong Hyun Baek - Korea 3. Junio Park - Brazil Welter Weight Division 1. Hak Hwan Kim - Korea 2. Marcin Chorzelweski - Poland 3. Christian Carlo Arce - Mexico 3. Anestis Kirpoglou - Greece Heavy Weight Division 1. Jae Young Park - Korea 2. Steven Ostrander - USA 3. Long Zhu - People's Republic of China 3. Michael Kotsopoulos - Greece TEAM 1. Korea 2. Chinese Taipei 3. Turkey
WOMEN
Fin Weight Division 1. Soraida Santiago - Puerto Rico 2. Elaia Torrontegui - Spain 3. Yu-Shin Huang - Chinese Taipei 3. Fan Tao Kong - The People's Republic of China Fly Weight Division 1. Elisha Voren - USA 2. Ji Hea Lee - Korea 3. Celine François - France 3. Yen-Ni Wu - Chinese Taipei Bantam Weight Division 1. Sara Martinez - Spain 2. Se Young Cha - Korea 3. Guiru Yuan - The People's Republic of China 3. Jessica Paulin Morataya Reich - Guatamala Feather Weight Division 1. Hamide Bickin Tosun - Turkey 2. Stephanie Beckel - USA 3. Carine Zelmanovitch - France 3. Hyo Jung Lim - Korea Light Weight Division 1. Li-Wen Su - Chinese Taipei 2. Muriel Buja Lance - Spain 3. Elizabeth Mohammed - Brazil 3. Ekaterina Noskova - Russian Federation Welter Weight Division 1. Lin Liu - The People's Republic of China 2. Natalia Silva - Brazil 3. Wan-Chen Chang - Chinese Taipei 3. Nidia Luz Beltran Villalob - Mexico Middle Weight Division 1. Sanaz Shabazi - USA 2. Wen-Chen Yang - Chinese Taipei 3. Ayten Andic - Turkey 3. Leslie Ellen Lanz - Germany Heavy Weight Division 1. Heidi Gilbert - USA 2. Kyriaki Koyvari - Greece 3. Maria Koniakhina - Russia 3. Myriam Baverel - France TEAM 1. USA 2. Chinese Taipei 3. Spain
