Junior Worlds Conclude in Tijuana

The U.S. Junior World Team was shut out of the medals on Tuesday during the final day of competition at the World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Tijuana, Mexico, but finishes with three medals for the tournament.

In action on Tuesday were male welterweight Juanito Cajimat (Ewa Beach, Hawaii), male lightweight Nicholas Yow (Mequon, Wis.), female bantamweight Haley Kong (Hillsborough, Calif.) and female welterweight Nicole VanCleave (Lake Tapps, Wash.).

Cajimat opened with an 11-4 win over Croatia's Tomislav Vojvodic to advance to the Round of 32, but then lost a 5-2 decision to eventual bronze medalist Daniel Miranda Fidalgo of Cuba.

The other three U.S. athletes all lost in their opening matches. Yow lost in overtime, 1-0, to Sweden's Zein Hilow in the Round of 64, Kong lost in the Round of 32 to China's Yaoye Song, 7-3, and VanCleave lost in the Round of 64 to France's Magda Wiet Henin.

The U.S. team finishes the event with one gold medal and two bronze medals. Male featherweight Seth Wolfe (Miami, Fla.) captured a bronze medal on Saturday, female flyweight Cheyenne Lewis (Elk Grove, Calif.) won the gold medal on Sunday, and female finweight Giuliana Gil (Pasadena, Calif.) claimed a bronze medal on Monday.

Day Four Winners:

Male -59kg (lightweight) : Please click here for match tree
1. In Chang Jeong   Korea
2. Tzellos Kleanthis   Greece
3. Echilov Khadzhimurad  Russia
3. Yusuf Kocaman   Turkey

Male -63kg (welterweight) : Please click here for match tree
1. Homayouni Amirhossein  Iran
2. Narcin Anikiej   Poland
3. Shashank Bhat   Canada
3. Daniel Miranda Fidalgo  Cuba

Female -46kg (bantamweight) : Please click here for match tree
1. Kubra Cakir   Turkey
2. Gallegos Vanessa  Mexico
3. Elodie Beaulieu  Canada
3. Nolp Sabrina  Germany

Female -55kg (welterweight) : Please click here for match tree
1. Suji Choi    Korea
2. Jade Jones    Great Britain
3. Ben Ali Rahma   Tunisia
3. Roeksirirat Sirada   Thailand

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Final Team Ranking

Male division
Rank- Country - Points
1 Iran 68
2 Korea 62
3 Turkey 49
4 Russia 41
5 Mexico 40

Female division
Rank - Country - Points
1 Korea 82
2 China 52
3 Turkey 41
4 USA 32
5 Croatia 27

Active Participation Prize:
Greece, Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico

Good Fighting Spirit Prize:
Nigeria, Portugal, Tahiti

MVPs:
Male division: Cesar Roman Rodriguez (Mexico; Gold medalist, under 51kg)
Female division: Lu Lu Fei (China; Gold medalist; over 68kg)

Best Coaches:
Bong Suk Lee (Korea), Reza Zavarar (Iran), Young Sun Bang (Mexico), Dong Wan Lee (Korea), Jung Bae Jeon (Azerbaijan)

Best Referees:
Jose Eduardo (Aruba), Argubi Mohamed (Netherlands), Chiu Carmen (Macao), David Couper (Denmark), Soo Hyun Park (Korea)

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Tags: Haley Kong, Juanito Cajimat, Nick Yow, Nicole VanCleave