Taekwondo Open Championship kicks off today in Riyadh

RIYADH: The Saudi Taekwondo Federation ( STF) in association with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea is hosting the Taekwondo Open Championship in Riyadh to promote sports and cultural ties between the two countries in line with Vision 2030.

The three-day event that starts Thursday is the STF’s 25th open championship in the Kingdom, said Youngjae Kim, ministercounselor and spokesman of the embassy, adding the competition is also “aimed to develop and operate innovative world-class leisure and entertainment in line with the Saudi Vision 2030."

He said the embassy is sponsoring the championship, the biggest taekwondo competition in the Kingdom, for the first time to help promote the sport.

Taekwondo, a systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts that teaches more than physical fighting skills, is also a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind, Kim said.

Since it is Ramadan matches will be take place during the night starting at 9:30 p.m. after Isha prayer at the Green Hall of General Authority of Sports at the Olympic Complex in Rafiah District.

The semifinals and the final games will be played on Saturday and will be followed by the awards ceremony where some Saudi celebrities including comedians will perform to entertain the crowd including the VIP guests.

Ambassador Pyung-oh Kwon will award medals to the champions in each weight class. The final day proceedings will be telecast live through SNS.

The tournament and awards ceremony are open free to the public, according to Kim.