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Travelling to Rio with the Gold Medal of the Last Olympic Station
In the second part of the report regarding the invited athletes to 2015 Grand Prix Final, we introduce -68 kg fighters. Behnam Asbaghi, ranked 7, is the representative of Iran in this weight category in GP Final.
The following countries had eligible athletes for participation in the second Olympic weight category: Russia, South Korea (2 representatives), Belgium, Turkey, Mexico, Spain and Iran.
The Olympic Games quota of Russia, South Korea and Belgium is confirmed now. Though, one of the countries among Turkey, Mexico, Spain and Iran will be omitted since only 6 top athletes in each weight category receive the direct quota of Rio 2016.
Who are the top ranked athletes of -68 kg?
Rank 1
Alexey DENISENKO from Russia (22 years old)
Significant achievements: Bronze medal of 2012 Olympic Games, Silver medal of 2015 World Championships, Silver medal of 2014 European Championships, Bronze medal of 2015 European Games, 4 Gold medals of 2013, 2014 and 2015 GPs.
Alexy’s Olympic Games quota is confirmed now but for defending his 1st place in the ranking, he needs to win the Gold medal of 2015 GP Final. In case Alexy overcomes South Korea and the winner of the match between Mexico and Turkey, he will face Behnam Asbaghi in the final round.
Rank2
Dae-hoon LEE from South Korea (23 years old)
Significant achievements: Silver medal of 2012 Olympic Games, Gold medal of 2014 and 2015 World Championships, Gold medal of 2012 and 2014 Asian Championships, 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze medal of 2014 and 2015 GPs.
Dae-hoon will fight with Behnam in his first match in GP Final. This match is going to be a spectacular challenge because Behnam needs to win in order to gain the quota of Rio 2016.
Dae-hoon has beaten the representatives of Iran 3 times so far.
Rank 3
Jaouad ACHAB from Belgium (23 years old)
Significant achievements: Gold medal of 2015 World Championships.
Jaouad is going to fight one of the most significant opponents of Behnam in his first match. If he wins the representative of Spain, it will be beneficial for Behnam. Jaouad could not win any medals in 2014 and 2015 GPs, though his Gold medal of 2015 World Championships gained 120 points for him and confirmed his quota of Rio 2016.
Jaouad lost the match against Behnam 13-6 in 2014 Final GP.
Rank 4
Servet TAZEGUL from Turkey (27 years old)
Significant achievements: Gold medal of 2012 Olympic Games, Bronze medal of 2008 Olympic Games, Gold medal of 2011 and 2015 World Championships, Bronze medal of 2009 World Championships, Gold medal of 2010, 2012 and 2014 European Championships, Bronze medal of 2015 GP.
Servet is going to fight with the representative of Mexico in his first match. He is standing on the 4th rank but he will lose the Olympic quota in case he loses in his first fight.
Servet is not going to face Behnam before the final round. He met Behnam in Bronze competition of 2014 GP Final but he withdrew and Behnam won the Bronze medal.
Rank 5
Saul GUTIERREZ from Mexico (22 years old)
Significant achievements: Gold medal of 2014 Pan American Championships, Bronze medal of 2015 World Championships, Gold medal of 2015 Pan American Games, Silver medal of 2015 GP.
Saul will face Behnam in the final round in case he succeeds in overcoming Server and the winner of the match between Russia and South Korea.
Rank 6
Joel GONZALEZ BONILLA from Spain (26 years old)
Significant achievements: Gold medal of 2012 Olympic Games, Gold medal of 2009 and 2011 World Championships, Silver medal of 2015 World Championships, Gold medal of 2010 and 2012 European Championships, Bronze medal of 2015 European Games, Silver medal of 2014 GP.
Joel is going to meet the representative of Belgium in his first match. In case he cannot win the match against Jaouad, his quota will depend on the results of the matches of Iran, Turkey and Mexico.
Joel does not seem to be well-prepared though since he could not win any medals in 2015 GPs. If he can overcome Jaouad he will fight against Behnam.
Rank 7
Behnam ASBAGHIKHANGHAH from Iran (29 years old)
Significant achievements: Gold medal of 2013 World Championships, Gold medal of 2014 Asian Championships and Asian Games, 4 Bronze medals of 2013 and 2014 GPs.
Behnam could not participate in any event for 7 months due to injury. He stood on the second place of ranking before his leg injury. During the last 2 months that he has resumed fighting, he succeeded in winning 20 Olympic ranking points.
Behnam should fight against Korean Dae-hoon in his fist match and after that he will meet the winner of the match between Belgium and Spain.
Rank 8
Hun KIM from South Korea (23 years old)
Significant achievements: Gold medal of 2013 World Championships, Gold medal of 2014 Asian Championships and Asian GAMES, 4 Bronze medals of 2013 and 2014 GPs.
Hun, the second representative of South Korea, lost his match against Behnam in the final round of 2013 World Championships and gained a Silver medal. He could not have any achievements during 2014 GPs.
Hun will face the representative of Russia in his first match. In case he can win in this match and other matches, he will meet Behnam in the final round. In his matches against Behnam, Hun has had 3 losses and 1 win so far.
Considering the fact that South Korea has 2 representatives in this weight category, only one of them will be eligible for receiving the quota of the Olympic Games.
At the end of GP Final that will be held in Mexico, the 6 top ranked athletes of each weight category will win the quota of Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Source: I.R. Iran TKD Federation
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