U.S. Teams Lose in World Cup Quarterfinals

Bill Kellick July 20, 2010

The U.S. men's and women's teams were ousted from the WTF World Cup Team Taekwondo Championships in Urumqi, China, on Tuesday with a pair of 3-1 losses to Turkey in the quarterfinals.

Fin/flyweight James Howe (San Ramon, Calif.) lost to Firat Pozan, 10-2, bantam/featherweight Terrence Jennings (Alexandria, Va.) dropped a 10-5 decision to Servet Tazegal, and light/welterweight Antony Graf (Miami, Fla.) lost to Ridvan Baygut in overtime. Middle/heavyweight Jason Neville (Edmond, Okla.) won by bowout over Serdar Yuksel.

In women's quarterfinal action, fin/flyweight Charlotte Craig (Murietta, Calif.) lost to Rukiye Yildirim, 2-1, bantam/featherweight Danielle Pelham (Bothell, Wash.) was bested by Ceynep Kirez, 10-2, and light/welterweight Paige McPherson (Miami, Fla.) lost 1-0 to Nur Tatar. Middle/heavyweight Lauren Cahoon (Miami, Fla.) won by bowout over Furkan Asena Aydin.

Iran won the men's competition with a 3-1 victory over Spain in the finals. Turkey and Korea shared the men's bronze medal.

Korea defeated China for the gold medal in the women's competition, while bronze medals went to Thailand and Turkey.

Korea's Hwang Kyung-Seon was chosen as the female Most Valuable Player of the event, while Iran's Mohammed Motamed was the male MVP.

The Good Fighting Spirit Awards went to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Great Britain. Tunisia, Egypt and Azerbaijan won Active Participation Prizes.

Iran's Reza Mehmandoust earned the male Best Coach Award, while Korea's Park Eun-Seon won the female Best Coach Award.

For videos of the event, visit WTF-Taekwondo TV!

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