BENGALURU (KARNATAKA): The second time lucky in a very short span of time, Mongolia will again host Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship in 2026. A decision to this effect was taken in a high-level meeting of the Asian Taekwondo Federation held in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
This was disclosed by Grand Master Prof. Ri Yong Son, President of the International Taekwondo Federation during an exclusive interview with Asian Community News (ACN) Network on the sidelines of the ongoing 10th Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship in Bengaluru. The grand event was formally inaugurated on Wednesday in the presence of top leadership of ITF as well as the state government officials.
“Yesterday, the Asian Taekwondo Federation held its congress and decided the name of Mongolia to host 11th Asian ITF Asian Taekwondo Championship in 2026,” said Grand Master Prof. Son.
The evert is organised every two years but the sequence was disrupted due to Cvid-19 pandemic as the previous Asian event was organised by Mongolia in 2018. The next next term came for China in 2020 but due to Corona virus outbreak it could not be organized there.
The ITF president said, “The 10th Asian ITF Taekwondo Championship is a first post-Corona Asian Championship as the previous was in Mongolia as India previously also organised many Asian championship. And this the biggest Asian championship as it has attracted more than 750participants and from 28 countries . I give my warm thanks and appreciation to the Indian government as well as state government for extending their support in organising this event. I also appreciate the efforts of the organising committee led by Grand Master Dr. Rajendran Balan and Master Pradeep Janardana as well as the participants.”
Grand master Dr.Rajendran Balan ( 9th DAN) the vice president of Asian Taekwondo federation, founder & president of TAI, is the chairman of the organizing committee, while Master Pradeep Janardhana, 7th Dan Black Belt, the Secretary General of the Taekwon-Do Association of Karnataka is the Vice Chairman. Master Rachana Chourasia Rajendran, 8th Dan Black belt, is the Secretary General- Taekwon-do Association of INDIA.
About Korean players, he said the Korea is the mother land of Taekwondo and it has best of the best players. “This time we have a big contingent with 93 people and 60 players. Korean coaches also training Indians players for the 3 months as they are like brothers. Also it is the obligation of the Koreans as mother to teach taekwondo to others,” he added.
In his interview, Grand Master Prof. Son said sports and taekwondo are little bit different. “Taekwondo is not sports but it’s a section of Taekwondo , which is actually a martial art. That’s why taekwondo prioritizes moral culture whereas sports is just to win others but Taekwondo is to win oneself .”
While addressing the inaugural function Master Kim Myong Gun, President of the Asian Taekwon-Do Federation congratulated the representatives, coaches and participants , organisiing committee and Indian government.
He said that last six years since when the 9th Asian championships were held in Mongolia in 2018,the taekwondo players tried their best to prove their skills and techniques through various levels of regional and nationals level competitions by gaming trials and obstacles prevailed due to the catastrophic pandemic crises, and specifically in the 22ndWorld Taekwondo Championships held in 2023 we won numerous gold medals and trophies so as to fully demonstrate their strong power and high techniques.
Other present on the occasion were Grand Master Prof. Dr. Dato Leong Wai Meng, Vice President of the International Taekwondo Federation Federation, Master Puran Tamta, Vice President of Taekwondo Association of India and Advisor to the President of the International Taekwondo Federation, Grand Master Tan Chek Si, Vice-President – Asian Taekwondo Federation, Malaysia Grand Master Son Song Gun, Chairman – Umpire Committee (ATF), DPR Korea, Master Keo Remy Sr Minister of Cambodia, KIM Myong Chol, First Secretary, Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and others.
