HA NOI — Taekwondo medal hopeful Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu suffered an early defeat at her debut Olympic Games when she was beaten 1-0 in the women’s – 57kg featherweight opening match by Bineta Diedhiou of Senegal yesterday.
The Senegalese world bronze medallist was a tough open opponent for Thu, who was the unluckiest member of the Vietnamese team in the draw.
Thu’s teammate Tran Thi Ngoc Truc, also failed to find success in her first Olympics. She finished seventh on Wednesday despite a relatively easy draw.
However, the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games silver medallists put up a good performance against a tough opponent in the first two sets. Diedhiou only managed to score a winning point in the third.
Thu’s slim chance of winning the bronze ended when Diedhiou lost to Italian Veronica Celabrese in the quarter-finals later yesterday. Only if Diedhiou had made it through to the final would the Vietnamese have qualified to take part in the repechage for third place).
World No 5 Celabrese, who finished second in the Olympic world qualifiers, beat Colombian Doris Patino 2-0 earlier yesterday but later lost to South Korea’s Lim Su-jeong 5-1 in the semi-final after beating Diedhiou.
In her first match, Lim tamed 2005 world silver medallist Su Li-wen of Chinese Taipei 1-0. She went on to beat New Zealand’s Robbin Cheong 4-1 and then Calabrese to reach the final.
Viet Nam’s hopes of repeating Tran Hieu Ngan’s silver medal success at the Sydney Games eight years ago now rests with five-time SEA Games champion and the only male member of the team Nguyen Van Hung.
Hung, the country’s top taekwondo artist, however, has been drawn against a number of powerhouses, including defending champion Keita Daba Modibo, in the men’s +80kg.
The Athens Olympian, is also suffering a recurrence of a leg injury that flared up on Tuesday.
Hung will begin his medal quest today against 2.10m-tall Chukwumerije Chika Yagazie of Nigeria.
Sibling suffers defeat
American Mark Lopez breezed into the men’s featherweight final but his sister Diana stumbled out of the women’s last-four yesterday as the trio of US siblings launched their Olympic taekwondo gold hunt.
Lopez, 26, made it through to the final after trouncing Peter Lopez, a Pervuvian fighter of no relation and the 2001 world silver medallist, 3-1 in the semi-finals.
“With each fight, I’m getting better and better. Hopefully, the momentum will continue until the final,” he said. “I’ll just stay focused like in any other fights. I always give it my all.”
South Korean powerhouse Son Tae-jin just beat Chinese Taipei’s world champion Sung Yu-chi 7-6 when he landed a decisive kick to the body with 18 seconds left on the clock during the final third round. He had also defeated Turkey’s Servet Tazegul by a single point in the quarter-finals.
The eldest of the Lopez siblings, four-time world champion Steven, launches his campaign for a third straight Olympic gold today in the men’s -80kg welterweight division.
Diana’s loss to Tanrikulu set the stage for some inter-family rivalry.
The Turk’s older brother Bahri fights Steven in the -80kg first round hoping to avenge his loss to the American in the gold-medal fight in Athens four years ago.
The Lopez family are the first trio of siblings to represent the United States at the same Olympics in the same sport since the Tritschler brothers competed in gymnastics at the 1904 Games in St Louis.
Although none of the Tritschlers won a medal, the Lopez family have already struck gold together when they triumphed at the 2005 world championships to become the first three siblings in any sport to claim world titles at the same competition. — VNS/AFP
