Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur will inaugurate the 3-day All-India Taekwondo Championship. The Championship has been organised to mark 50 years of Korea-India diplomatic relations. President of Korea National Sports University, Yong-gyu Ahn will be Chief Guest at the KD Jadhav Indoor Wrestling Hall at Indira Gandhi Stadium.
Korean Cultural Centre India is co-hosting the All India Inter SAI Taekwondo Championship with the Sports Authority of India under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of India and Korea National Sports University in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Korea-India diplomatic relations in 2023. This time All-India Taekwondo Championships as a sports exchange event between the two countries will be held for three days from till 26th February at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Wrestling Hall, Indira Gandhi Stadium. This championship has been planned to commemorate the 50th year of diplomatic ties between Korea and India and revitalize Taekwondo which has been stagnant since the pandemic and lay the foundation for the future as a major sports event between the two countries.
The opening ceremony which will be held on Friday will be attended by Honourable Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur, Korean Ambassador to India Chang Jae Bok, Deputy Minister & Ambassador for Public Diplomacy of Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lee Sang Hwa, and Korea National Sports University Chancellor Ahn Yong Kyu as chief guests. The ceremony will consist of an MOU signing in the field of sports exchange between the two countries and special performances, Korean dance (traditional, modern, practical), Taekwondo demonstration, and K-pop cover dance by performance teams from Korea National Sports University.
The three-day Taekwondo Championship event will be completed 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 the Poomsae division will be divided into men’s and women’s divisions only. Only elite Taekwondo players registered in 79 regional centres and regional training centres of Sports Authority of India will participate in the sparring category, and the Poomsae category is open to the public, anyone with a Kukkiwon-certified Taekwondo dan certificate can participate. The 10 Kyorugi and 2 Poomsae winners, who will win gold medals in each category, will visit Korea National Sports University with the support of the Korean government and receive a training program for about 3 weeks from the best professors as a prize.