All India Inter SAI Taekwondo Championship 2023 begins on Friday

New Delhi: A total of 265 male and female Taekwondo athletes are set for competition at the All-India Inter SAI Taekwondo Championship 2023 which started off with a gala event at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex. The athletes are part of 4 Sports Authority of India National Centres of Excellence in Lucknow, Bangalore, Guwahati and Trivandrum as well as 17 SAI Training Centres.

The three days tournament is being organized in commemoration of the 50th year of India-Korea Diplomatic Relations.

The three-day Taekwondo Championship event will be competed in the Cadet (U-14), Junior (U-17) and Senior age Groups which is divided in two parts: Poomsae and Sparring called Kyorugi. The sparring, Kyorugi division is divided according to the competition rules of the World Taekwondo Federation in players` age and weight and Poomsae division will be divided into men’s and women’s divisions only. The 10 Kyorugi and 2 Poomsae winners, who will win gold medals in each category, will visit Korea National Sport University with the support of Korean government and receive an education and training program for about 3 weeks from the best professors as prize.

Students from the Korea National Sports University, which has obtained a total of 126 Olympic medals so far, performed high-adrenaline martial arts feats like breaking of wooden dummies as well as warrior katas. There were also K-Pop inspired dance performances by the students and Indian traditional arts of Mallakhamb and traditional dance forms were also on display.

Dignitaries present at the opening ceremony were Sujata Chaturvedi, Secretary, Sports, Sandip Pradhan, Director General, SAI, Yong-gyu Ahn, Korea National Sport University Chancellor, Chang Jae Bok, Korean Ambassador to India, Sang-hwa Lee, Deputy Minister & Ambassador for Public Diplomacy of Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Yong-gyu Ahn, said “This event will play an important role in development of Taekwondo in India as well as cultural exchange of Korea and India. It would be great to see an Indian Taekwondo athlete obtain a gold medal in Olympic Games in near future and I hope this event becomes the stepping stone for Taekwondo to be loved by the people of India, as a martial art- sport and I will do my best for India’s development in Taekwondo.”

Following the opening ceremony, there was another MOU signing ceremony between Korea National Sport University and Miranda House, University of Delhi. As the first project based on the MOU between two national representative higher educational institutes, dispatched professor from Korea National Sport University will hold Taekwondo professional theory and practice classes at Miranda House from the first half of this year.

Hwang Il Yong, director of Korean Cultural Centre India said, The Yuva and Naari Shakti are leading the way to development and glory, and what better place than Miranda House of Delhi University, which embodies the youth and women power in its very core, to take this historical step. And I hope today’s momentous first step with Miranda House, will become the stepping stone for expansion of colleges and institutions in India and Korea, more exchanges of contents, and more and better development of the two countries, India and Korea, and our friendship.