491 taekwondo athletes compete in RoK Ambassador’s Cup
(VOV) - The national tournament for the country’s elite taekwondo clubs, known as the 2012 Republic of Korea (RoK) Ambassador’s Cup, opened in Hanoi’s Cau Giay competition hall on December 19.
Vu Xuan Thanh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Taekwondo Federation, said the tourney aims to mark 20 years of Vietnam-RoK diplomatic ties and select the best athletes for the national taekwondo team in preparation for international tournaments.
The event has attracted 271 male and 220 female taekwondo athletes from 59 taekwondo clubs over the country.
They are scheduled to compete in 32 combat events and 13 demonstration events. Athletes ages from 13-16 are divided into 16 categories: boys from 45kg to 68kg and girls from 42kg to 59kg.
Athletes ages above 17 are grouped into 16 categories: men from 54kg to 87kg, women from 46kg to 73kg.
Thanh said athletes ages from 13 to 16 will be chosen for the Olympic Games 2014, and Asian Games 2019 hosted by Vietnam. While athletes ages above 17 will play a core role in Vietnam’s preparations for SEA Games 2013 and ASIAD 2014.
At the opening ceremony, Vietnam’s national taekwondo team had a friendly match with the Kukkiwwon team from the RoK. They will have another friendly match with another team from the RoK’s Keimyung University later.
The RoK Ambassador’s Cup will last through to December 24.