| Thirteen athletes, who will compete at the World Taekwondo Tour 2009 Mexico on Nov. 14, pose with Dai-won Moon, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the inaugural event, and chairman of the WTF Technical Committee, in front of local media at Fiesta Inn Hotel in Mexico City, Mexico on Nov. 11, 2009. |
Thirteen athletes and their coaches attended the first official meeting of the World Taekwondo Tour 2009 Mexico, together with WTF officials at Fiesta Inn Hotel in Mexico City, Mexico on Nov. 11, 2009.
Mr. Dai-Won Moon, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the inaugural World Taekwondo Tour, and chairman of the WTF Technical Committee, welcomed the athletes and coaches, and explained technical and refereeing guidelines for the historic event.
A total of 16 athletes will compete in four weight categories for top honors at the one-day World Taekwondo Tour 2009 Mexico.
The new WTF Competition Rules will be applied to the event, with some modifications mainly for more exciting matches. The 4th sudden-death round will continue without time limit until one of the athletes scores the golden point.
In addition, any of athletes who have not made a valid attack within 10 seconds will be penalized with ‘Gam-jeom’ or deduction of point, and three violations of the 10-second rule will result in disqualification of the match. Four points will be given to a valid attack to the head.
For better understanding of the concept of the event, Dr. Yong Jae Ko, a professor of the University of Florida, was invited to give a lecture for the athletes on the qualification of professional athletes. The lecture highly impressed the athletes, and athletes showed great interest in image-building as a player.
A press conference for local media was followed, with 13 athletes sitting on the head table. They received a big applause when introduced to the media. Two Mexican athletes drew special attention from the local media, while the Mexican journalists showed great interest in Steven Lopez, who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion.
To help the athletes get used to the modified rules, a joint training session was held at the training hall of Fiesta Inn Hotel. The world’s best athletes gathered together for the first time and enjoyed training.
Another press conference is scheduled for Nov. 12, with a large participation of Mexican media. A total of 10 international referees will start training and practice from Nov. 12.
