U.S. Starts Strong at World Cup Competition
Bill Kellick July 17, 2010
The U.S. teams got off to a strong start on Saturday during the opening day of the WTF World Cup Team Taekwondo Championships in Urumqi, China. The men's team defeated Azerbaijan, 3-1, and the women's team bested Morocco, 3-1.
In the men's competition, James Howe (San Ramon, Calif.) defeated Samir Aydinov, 9-1, in the fin/fly division; Terrence Jennings (Alexandria, Va.) beat Fariz Aliyev, 1-0, in the bantam/feather division; Antony Graf (Miami, Fla.) lost to Reshad Ahmadov, 5-4, in the light/welter division; and Jason Neville (Edmond, Okla.) defeated Tavakgul Bayramov, 3-2, in the middle/heavy division.
In the women's event, Charlotte Craig (Murietta, Calif.) beat Sanaa Atabrour, 4-3, in the fin/fly class; Danielle Pelham (Bothell, Wash.) defeated Hajba Enhari, 6-5, in the bantam/feather class; Paige McPherson (Miami, Fla.) lost to Hakima Elmeslahy, 5-4, in the light/welter class; and Lauren Cahoon (Miami, Fla.) beat Wiam Dislam, 1-0, in the middle/heavy class.
Competition resumes on Sunday with the U.S. men facing China and the U.S. women taking on Vietnam.
The top eight teams from the 20-team round-robin portion that ends on Monday will advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The semifinal and final rounds will also take place on Tuesday.
Be sure to follow the results on the USA Taekwondo website (www.usa-taekwondo.us) and through the USA Taekwondo Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/USA_Taekwondo).
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