Naples, Italy – (July 10, 2019) Three USA Team athletes competed on the fourth day of Taekwondo competition, with Cheyenne Lewis reaching the quarterfinals, Lizette Salas reaching the round of 16 and Alejandro Bravo the round of 32.

Cheyenne Lewis (-67kg) squared off against Daniela Torres Alderete (MEX) in the round of 32.  Her presence was dominating with strong ring management and earned the victory 19-0.  Lewis’ Round of 16 match versus Celine Schmidt (GER) ended was a tightly managed affair in which Lewis never trailed, holding off a late rally to extend her lead to win 10-3.  Ana Ciuchitu (MDA) was Lewis’ quarterfinal match. Despite a barrage of kicks that appeared to make contact with her opponent’s helmet and body protector, the points didn’t go up and Lewis finished just a kick short, 5-7.

Said Lewis, “Although [the] results did not turn out exactly how I had hoped, there were a lot of positive takeaways to build on going into the team competition this Friday. Our team chemistry has been fantastic this whole trip and I am very much looking forward to leaving it all out on the mat with my team in a couple days.”

Lizette Salas (-49kg) began the day squaring off with Maria Lopez Ochoa (MEX) in the round of 32.  Salas held a 3 point lead after the first round, controlled the bout and extended her lead 19-6 at the conclusion of round two, scoring a variety of head kicks.  She succeeded by point gap 29-9 early in the final round. Salas fought Camila Silva Bezerra (BRA) next in the round of 16. Salas lead the match early but her opponent was able to tie the score 6-6 in the third round. Bezerra scored a head kick with just seconds remaining, earning her the win 6-9.

Said Salas, “I am very proud to have been given the chance to represent the USA. Of course it would have been a little better to be coming home with a medal, but being in the ring wearing the flag on my uniform and hearing my team mates cheer is something I’ll never forget.”
Completing USA Team’s athletes for the day, Alejandro Bravo (-58kg) sparred Shabib Al Wahaibi (OMA) in men’s division in the round. In a high energy match, Bravo worked hard for all 3 rounds but finished down 4-24.

This was the first World University Games for all three of Wednesday’s players, who will each have the opportunity to fight again during the team sparring event on Day 7.  Day 5 of the Universiade, USA Team will support Matthew Klein (-74kg), Amanda Bluford (-62kg) and Makayla Gorka (-73kg).  Bluford and Gorka are returning for their second Games, with Bluford coming off of a silver medal at the 2018 Pan American Championships. Watch the live stream at fisu.net.

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