Tajikistan Open 2019 Taekwondo WT is expected to take place in Dushanbe from April 26-26. Athletes from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia have been invited to participate in the tournament.
According to Tajikistan National Federation of Taekwondo WT, the competition will take place at Dushanbe Central Stadium Manege. An official opening ceremony of the competition will take place on April 26 at 5:00 pm.
“The best athletes from neighboring countries and Russia have been invited to participate in the competition,” Jahonzeb Karimyshev, the head of Tajikistan National Federation of Taekwondo WT, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is the international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The body was renamed in June 2017 to avoid the "negative connotations" of the previously used initials WTF. World Taekwondo was established on May 28, 1973 at its inaugural meeting held at the Kukkiwon with participation of 35 representatives from around the world. There are now 208 member nations. On July 17, 1980 the International Olympic Committee recognized World Taekwondo at its 83rd Session in Moscow, Soviet Union. First, Taekwondo was adopted as a demonstration sport of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea; later, on September 4, 1994 Taekwondo was adopted as an official Sport of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games at the 103rd IOC Session in Paris, France. Taekwondo is reportedly one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts, that teaches more than physical fighting skills. It is a discipline that shows ways of enhancing our spirit and life through training our body and mind. Today, it has become a global sport that has gained an international reputation, and stands among the official games in the Olympics.
