LONDON 2012 - OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS0

Jennings and Lopez Win on Opening Day of Olympic Trials

Terrence Jennings (Woodbridge, Va.) and Diana Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas) emerged victorious at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Taekwondo, held on Saturday at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.


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Jennings, a current U.S. National Team member, went undefeated in the male bantam/featherweight division (127.7 – 149.6 lbs.), winning four straight matches. He opened with a 6-4 win over Steven Lin (Woodside, N.Y.), then endured a 15-14 slugfest victory over Bernard Posey (Greensboro, N.C.) to earn a matchup with defending Olympic silver medalist Mark Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas). That match went to a sudden death overtime with Jennings scoring the winning kick and Lopez suffering a separated shoulder on the decisive point.

Lopez would return to action to face Brian Gallagher (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) in the finals of the elimination bracket. Earlier in the day, Lopez scored a 1-0 win over Gallagher, but Gallagher responded with a 2-1 win in the second matchup to bounce Lopez from the competition.

The final would follow the pattern of tight matches seen throughout the day with Jennings prevailing in overtime to win the division.

Diana Lopez also went undefeated in the female bantam/featherweight division (107.9 – 125.4 lbs.) by winning four consecutive fights. She began the day with a 2-1 victory over Sanaz Shahbazi (Sacramento, Calif.), then recorded a 5-1 win over Nicole Palma (Lake Worth, Fla.) and a 2-1 win over Danielle Holmquist (Coral Springs, Fla.) to reach the final. Paige McPherson (Sturgis, S.D.) emerged from the elimination bracket with a 3-2 win over Holmquist to earn the right to face Lopez in the final, but Lopez prevailed with a 2-1 win.

Jennings and Diana Lopez will now advance to the World Taekwondo Federation’s World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, July 16-19, 2011. A top-three finish there would earn a berth in the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

The second female athlete and weight division that will compete at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament will be determined by the results from the 2011 WTF World Championships held May 1-6 in Gyeongju, Korea.

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Saturday’s Results

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Male Bantam/Featherweight (127.7 – 149.6 lbs.)

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  • Winner’s Bracket

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William Rider (Orangeburg, S.C.) def. Andrew Oh (Bayside, N.Y.), 8-4

Bernard Posey (Greensboro, N.C.) def. Jaysen Ishida (Waipahu, Hawaii), 9-5

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Mark Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas) def. Rider, 2-0

Brian Gallagher (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) def. Jesus Armendariz (La Porte, Texas), 1-0 in overtime

Terrence Jennings (Woodbridge, Va.) def. Steven Lin (Woodside, N.Y.), 6-4

Posey def. Johnny Nguyen (Chandler, Ariz.), 7-6

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Lopez def. Gallagher, 1-0

Jennings def. Posey, 15-14

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Jennings def. Lopez, 1-0 in overtime

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  • Elimination Bracket

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Ishida def. Armendariz, 5-2

Lin def. Oh, 5-1

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Ishida def. Rider, 8-6

Lin def. Nguyen, by superiority

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Posey def. Ishida, 12-1

Gallagher def. Lin, 13-1

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Gallagher def. Posey by superiority

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Gallagher def. Lopez, 2-1

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  • Final

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Jennings def. Gallagher, 1-0 in overtime

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//

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Female Bantam/Featherweight (107.9 – 125.4 lbs.)

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  • Winner’s Bracket

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Sanaz Shahbazi (Sacramento, Calif.) def. Lynda Garcia (McAllen, Texas), 1-0

Deireanne Morales (Lynwood, Calif.) def. Shaina Krause (Fairfax Station, Va.), 5-0

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Diana Lopez (Sugar Land, Texas) def. Shahbazi, 2-1

Nicole Palma (Lake Worth, Fla.) def. Simone DeVito (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.), 7-3

Danielle Holmquist (Coral Springs, Fla.) def. Vatti Howe (Coppell, Texas), 10-3

Paige McPherson (Sturgis, S.D.) def. Morales, 2-0

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Lopez def. Palma, 5-1

Holmquist def. McPherson, 5-0

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Lopez def. Holmquist, 2-1

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  • Elimination Bracket

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Garcia def. Howe, 8-3

DeVito def. Krause, 7-0

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Garcia def. Morales, 8-1

Shahbazi def. DeVito, 8-6

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Palma def. Garcia, 5-0

McPherson def. Shahbazi, 1-0 in overtime

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McPherson def. Palma, 5-4

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McPherson def. Holmquist, 3-2

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  • Final

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Lopez def. McPherson, 2-1

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Source: USATaekwondo

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masTaekwondo Team

TaekwondoPlanet.com

info@mastaekwondo.com

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