(Aug. 22, 2017) -- The first two days of taekwondo competition at the 2017 Summer World University Games (Universiade) in Taipei, Taiwan, finished with two medals for Team USA. On day one, Edward Jeong (University of Bridgeport) earned a silver medal in male individual poomsae, and Adalis "AJ" Munoz (Tarrant County College) earned a bronze medal. The medals were the first among all sports for Team USA at the Universiade. In this year's new format, athletes had to perform one recognized poomsae and one freestyle poomsae in the final round.
Edward Jeong (l) with his silver medal in men's individual poomsae.
On day two, the team continued its strong performance with all divisions reaching the final (top 8) round in deep fields. The men's team of Jeong, Albert Jong (San Jose State University) and Kody Han (University of California, Berkeley) earned a close 5th place, missing the podium by a score of just 0.01. Kelsey Ha (Evergreen Valley College) and Jong also finished in 5th place. The female team of Christina Castillo (Austin Community College), Samery Moras (Utah Valley University) and Munoz finished in 7th place on the back of a strong performance.
"Everyone left everything on the mat but most importantly, we represented Team USA in the best manner possible," said Head Poomsae Coach Long Nguyen.
The next five days of competition will feature sparring competition from 16 USA athletes.
Adalis Munoz (second from right) with her bronze medal in women's individual poomsae.
