Host Turkey earned four berths for the taekwondo competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after two days of the 2008 WTF European Taekwondo Qualification Tournament, which concluded on Jan. 27, 2008 in Istanbul, Turkey.
European taekwondo powers Spain and Germany clinched three places each for the Beijing Olympic Games, while Great Britain, Greece and Sweden won two tickets each through the two-day event.
Eight countries grabbed one ticket each through the qualifier for the Beijing Olympic Games. They are Portugal, Azerbaijan, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, Croatia, Israel and Norway.
Through the European qualifier, a total of 14 countries in Europe earned 24 tickets. Given the results of the 2007 WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament in September 2007 in Manchester, England, 15 European countries clinched 32 berths for the Beijing Olympic Games.
A total of 128 athletes are scheduled to compete in the taekwondo competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, during which two bronze medals in each weight categories will be awarded for the first time. Twenty-six international referees officiated the event and there was only one protest throughout the two-day tournament.
The European qualifying event took place at the Ahmet Comert Sport Hall in downtown Istanbul, which drew 131 athletes, including 56 females, from 43 countries in Europe.
Among participating countries were Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece and Hungary. The others were Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.
The opening day of the two-day event featured four weight categories: the men’s -58kg, the men’s -80kg, the women’s -49kg and the women’s -67kg, while the second day featured another four weight divisions: the men’s -68kg, the men’s +80kg, the women’s -57kg and the women’s +67kg.
The competition results of the European qualifying event are as follows:
In the men’s -58kg category, Pedro Miguel Moreira Povoa of Portugal placed first, while Tyrone Robinson of Great Britain finished second and Juan Antonio Ramos Sanchez of Spain placed third.
In the men’s -68kg division, Servet Tazegul of Turkey placed first, while Daniel Manz of Germany and Dennis Bekkers of the Netherlands finished second and third, respectively.
Bahri Tanrikuku of Turkey placed first in the men’s -80kg division, while Azerbaijan’s Rashad Ahmadov and Great Britain’s Aaron Cook finished second and third, respectively.
In the men’s +80kg category, Spain’s Jon Garcia Aguado came in first, while Italy’s Leonardo Basile and Greece’s Nikolaidis Alexandros placed second and third, respectively.
In the women’s -49kg class, Hanna Zajc of Sweden placed first, while Switzerland’s Manuela Bezzola and Germany’s Sumeyye Gulec finished second and third, respectively.
Croatia’s Martina Zubcic finished first in the women’s -57kg category, while Turkey’s Azize Tanrikulu and Israel’s Bat El Getterer came in second and third, respectively.
In the women’s -67kg division, Turkey’s Sibel Guler came in first, while Greece’s Mystakidou Elisavet and Germany’s Pinar Budak finished second and third, respectively.
In the women’s +67kg category, Spain’s Rosana Simon Alamo finished first, while Sweden’s Karolina Kedzierska and Norway’s Nina Solheim placed second and third, respectively.