Courtesy of: The Morning News
By Rosalie Klein
Over 300 attending athletes, referees, judges and event organizers were delighted by the opening ceremonies of the WTF World Para-Taekwondo Championships and the WTF World Cup Taekwondo Team Championships taking place at the Gilberto Francois “Betico” Croes Sport Hall in Santa Cruz this weekend.
On Thursday evening, Aruba’s Minister of Public Health and Sport, Dr. Richard Visser was joined in the main arena by Minister of Infrastructure, Integration and Environment, Benny Sevinger for the official pronouncement of the opening of the games. Present on stage was President of the World Taekwondo Federation, Dr. Chungwon Choue, who accepted the declaration of fairness from the committee international referees, and President of the Aruba Taekwondo Association Jose “Chaco” Cornelio.
In the style of Olympic opening events, a charming program by island school children honoring the music and culture of the various attending countries followed the march of the participating teams. Athletes from 16 countries, including Iran, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Finland, France, Greece, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, USA, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Dominican Republic have traveled to Aruba for the first WTF World Cup Tae Kwon Do Team Championships.
The opening event ended with a breathtaking display of martial arts virtuosity and athleticism by the WTF Exhibition Team. Preliminary matches for the World Cup began on Friday morning, and will continue through today. The quarter, semi and final matches will take place in the sport hall tomorrow beginning at 9:00 AM. The public is welcome to attend. Tickets are on sale at the door for $10 for the day.
