[By NBC-1TV K, Y Yi] WUXI, China (August 22, 2019) - Chinese Taipei dominated the first day of the Wuxi World Cup Poomsae Championships which began today in the Taihu International Expo Centre in Wuxi, China.

The day started with Individual Recognised Poomsae, followed by Poomsae Mixed Pair performances, before finishing with the team recognised poomsae performances for both male and female groups. Chinese Taipei dominated the men’s and female’s individual recognised poomsae competitions with a combined total of seven gold medals. The USA also recorded a successful day with a total of five golds, while Thailand secured two victories, and Iran and Vietnam each taking home a gold medal.

Jui tse Yu (TPE) beat Shawn Seo (USA) in the men’s cadet competition for Individual Recognised Poomsae, while Jingkun Dong (CHN) and Vladimir Vanivskii (RUS) took bronze.

Quoc viet Pham (VIE) defeated Ryan Real (USA) in the men’s junior category for Individual Recognised Poomsae. Chieh-en Hsueh (TPE) added another medal for Chinese Taipei with bronze, while the first medal of the day for Thailand was won by Sippakorn Wetchakornpatiwong (THA) who claimed the second bronze medal.

Yun-zhong Ma (TPE) won gold in the men’s Individual Recognised Poomsae under 30 competition with a captivating display, gaining top points for accuracy and presentation. Pattarapong Sengmueang (THA) finished second, leaving Yuxiang Zhu (CHI) and Ngoc Minh hy Nguyen (VIE) to take bronze.

In the under 40 men’s Individual Recognised Poomsae competition for recognised poomsae, only two places were up for grabs on the podium, with Justin Wang (USA) taking gold over Sina Khalash Ghezelahmad (IRI).

The men’s under 50 Individual Recognised Poomsae competition saw Pok Sun Yang (USA) take gold over James Gies (CAN), who secured Canada’s first medal of the event. Shao-hung Cheng (TPE) added to Chinese Taipei’s impressive first day medal count with bronze.

Garth Cooley (USA) won gold in the men’s under 60’s Individual Recognised Poomsae, beating Mohsen Kazemi (CAN) to top spot. Hsiao-yao Su (TPE) finished third to take bronze.

Shuang hsia Chen (TPE) came out victorious with gold over silver medallist Donald Cottee (USA) in the under 65 male category.

Huo-shih Chen (TPE), born in 1952, was the oldest participant at today’s competition. He won gold in the men’s over 65 competition.

In the Individual Recognised Poomsae for the female cadet competition, Chia-jung Liu (TPE) won gold over Ratchadawan Tapaenthong (THA) in a close competition. Jiaqi Cheng (CHN) and Thuy nhi Bui (VIE) also secured their places on the podium.

The female junior Individual Recognised Poomsae saw Kanokchanok Jareonying (THA) win gold and Pin-chieh Huang (TPE) take silver. Picking up the bronze medals were Mi zah Ha (VIE) and Megan Lee (USA). 

For the under 30 female competition, Ornawee Srisahakit (THA) secured gold while Thi tuyey mai Lien (VIE) took silver. Yuhan Ji (CHN) and Ying-hsian Lee (TPE) were awarded bronze.

In first place for the under 40 female competition, Seyedeh Masoumeh Hosseini (IRI) won the first medal for Iran in the women’s competition and the first gold medal overall for the country. Kathy Do (USA) finished second, while Wen-yi Chen (TPE) won bronze.

With the only two medals up for grabs, Thoa Nguyen (USA) beat Tatiana Parfenenko (RUS) to top spot in the under 50 individual recognised poomsae competition.

The female under 60s Individual Recognised Poomsae saw Chinese Taipei come out on top after an impressive display by Han wen Chang (TPE) over Thur Doolittle (USA), while Lisa mae Petropoulos (CAN) secured bronze.

Yu Lien Lo (TPE) took the gold over Svetlana Selezneva (RUS) and Susan Cronin (USA) in the under 65 poomsae.

The over 65 female group saw Tweedy Nguyen (USA), the second oldest competitor of the day. She took gold as the only competitor to enter the group after a strong performance.

In the Recognised Poomsae Mixed Pair performances, it was again Chinese Taipei who dominated with four gold medals from the men’s and women’s competition.

For the Cadet pair poomsae, Chinese Taipei won gold, while Vietnam obtained silver and the USA and Thailand took the bronze medal places.

In the Junior pair poomsae, gold was awarded to Thailand and Vietnam secured another silver medal over Chinese Taipei and Iran with bronze.

Hosts China took gold in the under 30 pair competition for Recognised Poomsae. Chinese Taipei won silver while both Vietnam and Thailand collected bronze.

Iran beat the USA in the Recognised Poomsae over 30 pair competition while Canada took bronze.

The Team Recognised Poomsae line up saw Thailand take the gold in the men’s cadet competition, with Vietnam securing silver, while the USA and hosts China added to their respective medal tallies with bronze.

In the junior men’s team competition, Chinese Taipei won gold over Thailand with silver, while the USA and Vietnam claimed bronze.

The men’s under 30 competition saw Chinese Taipei take gold over Vietnam. Hong Kong secured its first medal of the day by winning bronze alongside the USA.

With only one entry for the under 30 men’s Team Recognised Poomsae  performance, the USA claimed the gold.

The female Team Recognised Poomsae cadet competition ended with the USA also taking gold, China in second and joint bronze for Chinese Taipei and Vietnam.

For the female juniors, Chinese Taipei secured gold over Vietnam, while Russia and the USA took bronze.

The under 30 female Team Recognised Poomsae competition was won by Thailand. Vietnam finished in second place over the USA and China who took bronze.

Lastly, for the over 30 Team Recognised Poomsae category, Chinese Taipei took the gold.

Tomorrow the Freestyle Poomsae individual for both male and female competitors takes place, as well as pair and mixed team performances.

The Poomsae event begins at 09:00 am local time with the Team Championships getting underway at 3:30pm.