South Korea’s women’s taekwondo champion Lee Da-bin (27, Seoul Metropolitan Government) has reached the semifinals of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics after a thrilling last-minute upset.
It was a refreshing change of pace, especially after her opponent handed her a defeat in the final of the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Lee defeated China’s Zhou Zhiqi 2-1 (4-2 3-8 7-6) in the quarterfinals of the women’s 67-kilogram overweight category at the Paris Olympic Taekwondo Games at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, on Tuesday (Aug. 10).
Idabin won a silver medal in this weight class at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. He went on to win gold at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, 2016 Pasay Asian Championships and 2019 Manchester World Championships. He now needs to add an Olympic gold medal to complete the grand slam, and he overcame a crucial hurdle against Zhou Zhiqi.
It was a dramatic victory. Idabin defeated Petra Stolbova (CZE) 2-0 (4-4 3-2) in the round of 16 with a round-of-16 score of 2-0 (4-4 3-2) after punching Zhou to the body and then to the head.
Idabin made it 4-0 with just over a minute left in the first round and held on to take the first round.
The second round was a different story. Zhou Ziqi landed a trio of head, body, and torso shots and was deducted a point for eight points. Idavin also scored three points by hitting Zhou Ziqi’s head, but he had no other effective strikes and lost the second round 3-8.
In the third round, which would decide the winner, Idabin’s upset drama unfolded. Idabin was down 2-6 with 33 seconds left in the match after suffering a blow to the head. However, he didn’t panic, and 카지노사이트 after a short period of calm, he managed to pull off the upset.
With 17 seconds left in the match, Idabin landed a head kick to cut the deficit to 5-6, and in a fierce kicking battle, he twice forced Zhou Zhiqi to take a point off the board to make it 7-6 and win the third round.
Earlier in the round of 16, Idabin defeated Petra Stolbova (CZE) by a round score of 2-0 (4-4 3-2).
In the event of a tied round, the winner will be determined by the number of points scored by spinning kicks, the number of points scored by head, body, fists, and strikes to the head, and the number of effective strikes to the head. Based on these criteria, Idabin won the first round 3-2 and the second round 3-2.
Idabin, who is ranked fourth in her weight class in the WTF’s Olympic qualification rankings, compiled through June, the month leading up to the Games, will face fellow Asian fighter Svetlana Osipova of Uzbekistan in the semifinals.
Osipova defeated Great Britain’s Rebecca McGowan in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 round score to reach the last four.
Osipova won a bronze medal at last year’s Asian Games after losing to Zhou in the semifinals. But she is no slouch, having won back-to-back gold and silver medals in the 73kg category at the 2022 Guadalajara and 2023 Baku World Championships, respectively. She is ranked ninth in the WTF’s Olympic rankings in the 67kg category.
If Idabin defeats Osipova, she will meet the winner of the other semifinal, Altena Lorin (FRA)-Kus Aydin Nafia (TUR), in the final.