Olympics-Taekwondo-Teenagers cause upsets, Thai flyweight queen nabs gold

By Chang-Ran Kim

CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) -On a day of many upsets, Thailand’s taekwondo flyweight queen Panipak Wongpattanakit did not disappoint in the end, winning her first Olympic gold by a hair on Saturday to add to her two world championships.

In the final bout, Spanish 17-year-old Adriana Cerezo Iglesias was seven seconds away from gold when a 2-point body kick from Panipak reversed a 1-point lead, sending her crumpling on the mat in tears.

“I have a lot of mixed feelings right now,” Cerezo Iglesias, who has never won a world championship, said. “I was in the final and could fight, I was really in the game at my first Olympics.

“But the gold is what I came for and what hurts is the way I lost it. I gave her a chance to win and she’s really good, she took it. She deserves it,” she said of the Rio bronze medallist.

The Spaniard had beaten the odds with a 33-2 win in the quarter-finals over China’s two-time Olympic champion Wu Jingyu - twice her age at 34 - who’s dream of a historic third gold medal was shattered with the defeat.

Wu had also lost in the quarter-final in Rio, triggering her decision to retire. She had then returned in 2019 and had endured a gruelling tournament schedule to rack up enough points to qualify for Tokyo 2020.

“This is my last Olympic Games and that’s really hard for me,” Wu said. “I have already retired once and now I am retiring again.”

With form hard to judge coming into the Games after most international competitions were wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, another teenager - in the men’s -58kg category - also came out of nowhere to reach the final and win silver.

Tunisian 19-year-old Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi looked set to be minted as the next “one-to-watch” as he reached the final, where he ultimately met his match in Italy’s Vito Dell’aquila, who took the gold.

Jendoubi breezed to a surprise victory over Solomon Demse in the quarter-finals with a 23-point gap, then went on to beat top-ranked gold medal favourite Jang Jun of South Korea, who took one of the two bronze medals.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Alex Richardson)

Taekwondo – 2018 Asian Games – Women 49 kg, Medal Ceremony - JCC Plenary Hall, Jakarta, Indonesia – August 23, 2018 – Gold medalist Panipak Wongpattanakit of Thailand poses on the podium. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Taekwondo - Women’s Flyweight - 49kg - Semifinal - Makuhari Messe Hall A, Chiba, Japan - July 24, 2021. Adriana Cerezo Iglesias of Spain celebrates after competing REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Taekwondo - Men’s Flyweight - 58kg - Semifinal - Makuhari Messe Hall A, Chiba, Japan - July 24, 2021. Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi of Tunisia celebrates after competing REUTERS/Murad Sezer