Korea accumulated a total of 9 gold medals to reach the top of the nations final ranking, leaving just 7 more titles for the rest of countries. France and Japan tried their best to compete with the Koreans, but in the end they only managed to take 2 golds each, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

During the first day of action, senior athletes from -58kg (male) and -49kg (female) categories competed for the 20 ranking points. In the men’s -58kg category, Yamada Yuma from Japan got the gold medal as he beat Korean Myung-Je Kang in the final match (6-4) and in the female’s -49kg category Korean Hye-Jung Kim won over Jessie Bates from the USA (9-4).

 

Korea took the lead in the table after Friday`s activity thanks to Yu-Jin Kim’s and Dong-Eon Lee’s titles in Female’s -53 kg and Male’s -80 kg respectively. The French Maeva Coutant (silver), the Canadian Cecilia Haelim Lee and the American Deiranne Estephany Morales (bronze medalists both) were Kim’s companions in the podium, while the Chinese La Ta (silver) and the Philippine Christian De La Cruz and the Chinese also Haichao Jin (bronze medalists) shared the medal ceremony with Lee. The third gold of the day was awarded to the French Haby Niare, who beat So-Young Seo from Korea in the Female’s -67 kg final, leaving the bronzes to the French also Marlene Harnois and to Melissa Pagnotta from Canada.

 

 

A total of 3 draws were decided on Saturday, each of them won by a different country contestant. In the Male’s -68 kg, the local Kil-Soon Lee won over the Philippine Gershon Bautista to take the gold, with Abdulazizov (UZB) and Denisenko (RUS) completing the medalists of the draw. In Female’s – 57 kg, the American Marie Cheyenne showed her best level to get rid of the Korean fighter Ji-Youn Ha in the crucial combat as Kuzheleva (RUS) and Saydullaeva were awarded with the bronzes. In Female’s -62 kg Magda Wiet from France defeated her compatriot Aline Dossou in the final to take the title. The local Lee and Victoria from Myanmar had to resign themselves with the third places.

 

The fourth day of action was Sunday. In the -46 kg Female’s draw, the Japanese Miyu Yamada seemed to easily win the title in front of Nway Nway from Myanmar, whom she defeated by 7-0 in the big final. However, both finalists had to fought until the last second of their semis combats to reach the crucial fight. Yamada won over the Philippine Mary Anjelay Peláez by 4-3 and Nway beat the local Hee-Joung Choi in the extra period. Both Peláez and Choi were awarded with the bronze medal. In the Male’s contests, the Russian Stanislav Denisov in -54 kg and Kyeo-Re Han from Korea in -74 kg grabbed the gold after winning two very different finals. Denisov had to give his very best to get rid of Jean Paul Lizardo from Phillipines (7-5), while Han comfortably beat the Philippine Samuel Morrison by 12-5. The bronze medals were taken by Dwe Shein Naing from Myanmar and the local Ji-Woong Park in -54 kg, and Dimitriy Kim from Uzbekistan and the South African Gopolang Mokoka in -74 kg.

 

The only Female’s category decided on Monday was the -73 kg draw, in which the Chinese Hailing Li was awarded with the gold medal thanks to her victory over the local Hye-Ri Oh, whom defeated by a close 4 to 3 after a very exciting combat. The bronze medalists of this modality were the Vietnamese Nguyen Ha Thi, who was clearly beaten by Li in the semis (6-0) and the French Maeva Mellier, who lost to Oh in the other semi (5-7). Monday`s action had two more titles to deliver in the Male’s draws, with the fortunates turning to be the Koreans Min-Sung You and Sang-Je Lee. You lifted the -63 kg’s title after getting rid of the very brave Japanese athlete Yuki Mitsuhashi in the final (3-4), leaving the lower step of the podium to the Americans Chase Wayne Graham and Devin Suprapon Neudeck. The -87 kg draw was won by another local fighter, Sang-Je Lee, who had to beat the Philippine Robert Uy Kristopher in the crucial combat by 4-2. The Colombian Óscar Hortua and Ko Ko Wai Yan from Myanmar had to conform themselves with the bronze after being knocked out by 13-0 against Lee and 15-0 in front of Kristopher respectively in the semis.

 

 

Tuesday, the closing day of competition, was reserved for the Heavy categories of both draws. Korea didn´t give a chance to its rivals as Sae-Bom An in the Female’s contest (+73 kg) and Yun-Bae Nam in the Male’s modality (+87 kg) climbed to the top of the podium after two comfortable wins in the final. However, An had to face the same rival she had in the Gyeongju 2011 World Championships’ final, the French Anne Caroline Graffe. Same combat, same venue, but different result. The Korean managed to handle the pressure and won the rematch by a clear 8-2, with the Chinese Ying Liu and the Australian Janine Watson grabbing the bronzes. In the other draw, Nam beat Quang Duc Dinh from Vietnam by a resounding 8-0. The American Alexander Pyu and the Chinese Bo Xu were awarded with the bronze medals.

 

The 8th Korea Open International Championships will be hosted also in Gyeongju in 2014.

WTM

 

Korea Open 2012 Final Results:

Senior I (F) -46kg

1 YAMADA Miyu JPN

2 Nway nway MYA

3 Choi Hee-joung KOR

3 PELAEZ Mary anjelay PHI

 

Senior I (F) -49kg

1 Kim Hye-jeong KOR

2 BATES Jessie lynn USA

3 MORA Ma.isabella erika PHI

 

Senior I (F) -53kg

1 Kim Yu-jin KOR

2 COUTANT Maeva FRA

3 LEE Cecilia haelim CAN

3 MORALES Deireanne estephany USA

 

Senior I (F) -57kg

1 LEWIS Cheyenne marie USA

2 Ha Ji-youn KOR

3 KUZHELEVA Ekaterina RUS

3 SAYDULLAEVA Dilobar UZB

 

Senior I (F) -62kg

1 WIET Magda FRA

2 DOSSOU GBETE Aline FRA

3 Lee Seung-a KOR

3 Victoria MYA

 

Senior I (F) -67kg

1 NIARE Haby FRA

2 Seo So-young KOR

3 HARNOIS Marlene FRA

3 PAGNOTTA Melissa CAN

 

Senior I (F) -73kg

1 LI Hailing CHN

2 Oh Hye-ri KOR

3 HA Thi nguyen VIE

3 MELLIER Maeva FRA

 

Senior I (F) +73kg

1 An Sae-bom KOR

2 GRAFFE Anne caroline FRA

3 LIU Ying CHN

3 WATSON Janine AUS

 

Senior I (M) -54kg

1 DENISOV Stanislav RUS

2 LIZARDO John paul PHI

3 Naing dwe shein MYA

3 Park Ji-woong KOR

 

Senior 1 (M) -58Kg

1 YAMADA Yuma JPN

2 KANG Myung-je KOR

3 KIM Vladislav UZB

3 WU Yu-Feng RSA

 

Senior I (M) -63kg

1 You Min-sung KOR

2 MITSUHASHI Yuki JPN

3 GRAHAM Chase wayne USA

3 NEUDECK Devin suprapon USA

 

Senior I (M) -68kg

1 Lee Soon-kil KOR

2 BAUTISTA Gershon PHI

3 ABDULAZIZOV Shokhrukhbek UZB

3 DENISENKO Alexey RUS

 

Senior I (M) -74kg

1 Han Kyeo-re KOR

2 MORRISON Samuel thomasharper PHI

3 KIM Dmitriy UZB

3 MOKOKA Gopolang RSA

 

Senior I (M) -80kg

1 Lee Dong-eon KOR

2 TA La CHN

3 DE LA CRUZ Christian al PHI

3 JIN Haichao CHN

 

Senior I (M) -87kg

1 Lee Sang-je KOR

2 Kristopher Robert uy PHI

3 HORTUA Oscar COL

3 Wai yan ko ko MYA

 

Senior I (M) +87kg

1 Nam Yun-bae KOR

2 DINH Quang duc VIE

3 Pyu Alexanber USA

3 XU Bo CHN

 

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