Taekwondo 2019 Discussion Thread

[MHSN 3,616]

I was looking for results of "Galeb Belgrade Trophy" in Serbia because the whole Iranian squad is there, while watching the live results I saw something very surprising, a familiar name, former World and Asian Games champion Mehdi Khodabakhshi but not for Iran, he is representing Serbia !

 

he was off the radar in past few months, so after a little search it seems he is married to a Serbian girl ! (former Serbia NT member Tanackovic) I'm not sure if he can represents Serbia in official tournaments anytime soon because he was participating for Iran a year ago. and if I'm not wrong he even tried his chance in Iranian nationals few months ago but he got injured and withdrew (and he was upset our coach didn't give him a second chance) this is kind of funny because Milad Beigi left Iran because of him !! even though I know this is a different case and this is not for money.

 

I wonder if this is a permanent change for Khodabakhshi or this is just temporary for this tournament ?!

Edited October 27, 2019 by MHSN

[MHSN 3,616]

Mehdi Khodabakhshi officially confirmed he is going to participate for Serbia, and if you check the WT ranking. from this month he is listed for Serbia. it seems his mother in law has cancer and his wife can't live anywhere else but Serbia.

 

he says he still needs few more month to be eligible for Serbia but his goal is to win a medal at the 2024 Olympics (2020 is not possible for him)

 

the news about Khodabakshhi came to Iran only today and it made the headlines everywhere . seriously Iranian media are always behind. I knew about it a week ago.

 

anyway good luck to Khodabakhshi and thanks for everything.

[ChandlerMne 1,037]

4 hours ago, MHSN said:

Mehdi Khodabakhshi officially confirmed he is going to participate for Serbia, and if you check the WT ranking. from this month he is listed for Serbia. it seems his mother in law has cancer and his wife can't live anywhere else but Serbia.

 

he says he still needs few more month to be eligible for Serbia but his goal is to win a medal at the 2024 Olympics (2020 is not possible for him)

 

the news about Khodabakshhi came to Iran only today and it made the headlines everywhere . seriously Iranian media are always behind. I knew about it a week ago.

 

anyway good luck to Khodabakhshi and thanks for everything.

I was sure it was only an administrative thing but this is shock indeed. 

Also i didnt know that he married a Serbian. 

Sure that his knowledge will benefit Serbian team since men's taekwondo is extremelly poor compared with women's. 

But to wait 5 years...

[MHSN 3,616]

2 minutes ago, ChandlerMne said:

I was sure it was only an administrative thing but this is shock indeed. 

Also i didnt know that he married a Serbian. 

Sure that his knowledge will benefit Serbian team since men's taekwondo is extremelly poor compared with women's. 

But to wait 5 years...

 

yes he is a married to Tanja Tanackovic, former Serbia NT member.

 

he will be 33 in Paris and he was on decline since "the Rio disaster" but who knows maybe this big change helps him. sometimes it does. he was destroying everybody in peak of his career. people can see how dominant Milad Beigi is currently but Khodabakhshi beat him handily in 2015 in Iranian trials. Khodabakhshi in his prime days was even better than current Beigi. but nobody knows what happened to him in Rio and after that.

[heywoodu 15,135]

5 hours ago, MHSN said:

Mehdi Khodabakhshi officially confirmed he is going to participate for Serbia, and if you check the WT ranking. from this month he is listed for Serbia. it seems his mother in law has cancer and his wife can't live anywhere else but Serbia.

 

he says he still needs few more month to be eligible for Serbia but his goal is to win a medal at the 2024 Olympics (2020 is not possible for him)

 

the news about Khodabakshhi came to Iran only today and it made the headlines everywhere . seriously Iranian media are always behind. I knew about it a week ago.

 

anyway good luck to Khodabakhshi and thanks for everything.

Finally an athlete transferring with an actually very acceptable reason. Good luck to him and all the best to his wife and her mother.

Edited November 5, 2019 by heywoodu

[ChandlerMne 1,037]

34 minutes ago, MHSN said:

 

yes he is a married to Tanja Tanackovic, former Serbia NT member.

 

he will be 33 in Paris and he was on decline since "the Rio disaster" but who knows maybe this big change helps him. sometimes it does. he was destroying everybody in peak of his career. people can see how dominant Milad Beigi is currently but Khodabakhshi beat him handily in 2015 in Iranian trials. Khodabakhshi in his prime days was even better than current Beigi. but nobody knows what happened to him in Rio and after that.

I havent heard for her and i follow taekwondo closely. She won only one bigger medal, at European Universiade.

On the other hand, i am quite familliar with Mehdi. His decline was surprising but not as much, since TKD is a sport in which you usually hit your prime when 18 or 19 and after that, situation isnt that glorious. With some exceptions, of course. 

I am not so positive about his Paris 2024 journey but who knows...

[ChandlerMne 1,037]

Just now, heywoodu said:

Finally an athlete transferring with an actually very acceptable reason. Good luck to him and all the best to his wife and her mother.

I noticed that, too.

 

[ChandlerMne 1,037]

And yet another European championship.  We have more EChs than F1 stages.

[Gianlu33 4,546]

13 hours ago, ChandlerMne said:

And yet another European championship.  We have more EChs than F1 stages.

I think this is a sort of team event

[phelps 7,669]

46 minutes ago, Gianlu33 said:

I think this is a sort of team event

 

no, it's a G1 Individual Tournament for Olympic classes only...

 

Taekwondo calendar is simply a mess...they have too many people to make happy to be serious...

 

by the way, here you have Day #1 Medallists (senior Olympic classes only):

 

https://www.worldtaekwondoeurope.org/files/Results_-_G1_Olympic_-_29_NOV_2019.pdf

 

and here you have Day #2 Medallists (senior Olympic classes only):

 

https://worldtaekwondoeurope.org/files/Results_-_G1_Olympic_-_30_NOV_2019.pdf