Published on Cuba Si (http://cubasi.cu)

Chelyabinsk Ready for 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships

The Russian city of Chelyabinsk is ready for the 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships, which are scheduled for May 12-18, 2015.

A total of 875 athletes from 136 countries have submitted their entry forms for the biennial championships, which is the 22nd edition of its kind for men and 15th for women.

The seven-day event, which will take place at the Traktor Arena in Chelyabinsk, will feature eight male and eight female weight categories.

Among athletes to watch at the championships will be 2012 London Olympic gold medalists - Jade Jones of Great Britain, Milica Mandic of Serbia, and Servet Tazegul of Turkey. Also competing in the championships are Korea's Dae-hoon Lee, the gold medalist at both the 2011 and 2013 World Championship; the five-time world champion Steven Lopez of the United States; Moldova's Aaron Cook; and Gabon's Anthony Obame, the gold medal winner at the 2013 Puebla World Championships.

"We are ready for the championships and everything goes well smoothly as scheduled. We will show the world the best championships ever," said Boris Dubrovskiy, chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 2015 World
Taekwondo Championships.

A total of 100 international referees, including 29 females, will officiate at the Grade-12 championships. The gold medalists will receive 120 ranking points, while the silver medalists will earn 72 ranking points. The bronze medal winners will gain 43.2 ranking points.

A Daedo protector and scoring system (PSS) will be used at the Championships. Electronic PSS head protectors will be used at the Chelyabinsk championships for the first time in the history of the WTF World Championships. To ensure fair judging, an instant video replay system will be also introduced.

Also Octagon-shaped mats will be used for the first time in the history of the WTF World Championships.

For every weight division, a half of the athletes, regardless of the number of athletes, will be seeded based on the WTF World Ranking as of May 1, 2015. Athletes from the host country of Russia will be seeded at the 4th place, if he or she is not seeded within the 4th place.

Based on the point system, the top five teams of the men's and women's divisions will receive trophies.

The head of team meeting and the drawing of lots session will take place on May 10, two days prior to the start of the championships.

The opening ceremony of the championships, which is schedule to take place at 6 p.m. on May 12 at the venue, will feature a 20-minute taekwondo demonstration each by the WTF and the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF).

Together with the ITF taekwondo demonstration team, ITF President Ung Chang was officially invited to the 2015 WTF World Taekwondo Championships, drawing special interest among the international media and global taekwondo families.

"Through the taekwondo demonstrations at the opening ceremony, we will show the world that the roots of taekwondo is one," said WTF President Chungwon Choue.

On the occasion of the World Championships, a WTF Council meeting will take place at 10 a.m. on May 10 and the WTF General Assembly at 2 p.m. on May 11.

The 5th International Symposium on Taekwondo Studies will open at 1 p.m. on May 9 for a two-day run at the South Ural State University.

Tamworth taekwondo ace Deer boosted by Cuba camp

TAMWORTH taekwondo star Andrew Deer is confident he can deliver the goods as he goes in search of glory at the World Championships.

Deer will compete in the under-74kg weight category as part of a 14-strong squad that heads out to the Russian city of Chelyabinsk from May 12-18.

And he said: "I am really looking forward to getting started now.

"The hard work has been done in terms of training and now, for me, the competition is the best part of it.

"You train hard but the championships are where you go and measure where you are at as a competitor.

"This is where you go and perform to the best of your ability and I want to make sure I have no regrets at the end of the competition."

Deer heads into the championships on the back of a tough but beneficial training camp in Cuba.

"We went out there for 12 days and had some good sparring and some good fights," he said. "It was tough and we used it as a mock World Championships, so we could prepare for what is a tough schedule.

"It was about getting into the right mindset and I feel that I am in the right shape now both mentally and physically.

"So I am ready for the challenge now. I know that I have got it in me to do well in Russia.

"I am going to be coming up against the best from each country and I know that it won't be a walk in the park.

"But I am going to Russia in great shape and in confident mood so I am looking forward to seeing what I can do."