Uzbek taekwondo fighters break a historic record

Today 27 June, the XXV Asian Taekwondo Championship ended in Chuncheon, South Korea.

Shukhrat Salayev, who competed on the last day’s competitions in the 80kg weight category, won the continental championship.

In the final, the Uzbek taekwondo fighter faced the silver medalist of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo Salikh al-Sharabati from Jordan.  In the first round, Salayev won, and in the second round, his opponent took control.  In the final round, Salayev showed strong character, despite losing the race with a gap of 0-5 in the score, and was able to decide the fate of the match in his own favor with a score of 8:7.  Especially in the last two seconds, he achieved victory with a hit which earned an extra 2 points.  This was the most dramatic moment of the entire match.

Fortunately, Uzbekistan’s taekwondo team successfully competed at the Asian Championships, winning a total of 4 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals.
Ulugbek Rashitov, Jasurbek Jaysunov, Nikita Rafalovich, and Shukhrat Salayev defeated all their rivals and became Asian champions.  It should be noted that independent Uzbekistan has never won 4 gold medals in the Asian Championships in the history of the country before.

Another reason to be proud is that the representatives of Uzbekistan were able to beat the athletes of Korea which is the homeland of taekwondo and the host of the Asian championships in the number of gold medals and took the first place in the team standings.