National taekwondo team cancels camp in Korea
The national taekwondo team will not be holding a preparatory camp in Korea this year due to lack of funding from Conade. However, Alfredo Castillo's organization will send them to the qualifying competition for the Grand Slam, which will take place in China from April 20th to 22nd.
"We had planned to have a camp in Korea, but we don't know why the funding didn't come through, and finally they are supporting us to go to this G-2 level event, and thus have the opportunity to qualify for the Grand Slam that will take place in December and January, where the top three will have the right to participate in that event," said the national coach, Alfonso Victoria.
The National Head Coach also mentioned that it would have been more beneficial to attend the camp in Korea as the athletes would have had more warm-up fights.
"The advantage is that in the Grand Slam qualifying competition, the athletes will have a maximum of five high-level fights, but it can't be compared to a camp where they could have had 40 fights with the Koreans," said the coach.
Athletes aiming to qualify for the Grand Slam:
- Brenda Costa Rica (-49 kg)
- Daniela Sousa (-49 kg)
- Anel Félix (-57 kg)
- Linda Torres (-57 kg)
- Victoria Heredia (-67 kg)
- Ashley Arana (+67 kg)
- Renata Treviño (+67 kg)
- César Rodríguez (-58 kg)
- Brandon Plaza (-58 kg)
- Rubén Nava (-68 kg)
- Iker Casas (-68 kg)
- René Lizárraga (-80 kg)
- Uriel Adriano (-80 kg)
- Carlos Sansores (+80 kg)
- Bryan Salazar (+80 kg)
"We hope to secure one or two spots in addition to the ones we already have for the Grand Slam. It is a very strong event, more important than a World Championship, and all countries are investing in this event as it will offer a qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games," explained Victoria.
The spots we already have for the December 2018 and January 2019 Grand Slam are: Briseida Acosta (+67 kg), María Espinoza (+67 kg), Carlos Navarro (-58 kg), and Saúl Gutiérrez (-68 kg), all of them due to their good position in the Olympic ranking.
The athletes who participate in the Grand Slam are the gold medalists from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the champions of the World Championship in Muju 2017. Additionally, the champion of the 2017 Grand Prix Final and the three winners of the Grand Prix series held this year will also be present.