{"id":905,"date":"2012-06-04T10:14:26","date_gmt":"2012-06-04T18:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/?p=905"},"modified":"2012-06-04T10:14:26","modified_gmt":"2012-06-04T18:14:26","slug":"2012-world-university-taekwondo-championships-poomsae-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/04\/2012-world-university-taekwondo-championships-poomsae-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"2012 World University Taekwondo Championships Poomsae Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

The USA Poomsae Team opened the competition with a strong showing these first two days. Rene Chen<\/div>\n
(Women’s Individual, Rhode Island School of Design, Medford, MA) and Long Nguyen (San Jose State<\/div>\n
University, San Jose, CA) both advanced to the final round. The level of competition was extremely high<\/div>\n
with many former medalists amongst the group.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Competing in the semifinal round, Chen performed pal jung and koryo to beat out many top nations to<\/div>\n
advance. In the finals, she competed in keumgang and taebaek and showed much strength and stability<\/div>\n
throughout both forms. All performances were very solid, and she finished the day in 7 th place overall.<\/div>\n
This is the best result for a US female individual poomsae competitor at a world collegiate event, besting<\/div>\n
her performance last year when she placed 8th at the Summer World University Games in Shenzhen,<\/div>\n
China.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Nguyen, also in the semifinal round, performed koryo and keumgang to advance to the final round<\/div>\n
where he performed taebaek and pyongwon. This is his first year representing the US in the Men’s<\/div>\n
Individual category and showed great tenacity and rhythm throughout his performances. He finished the<\/div>\n
day with an impressive 8th overall position.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Day 2 of competition consisted of three events. Starting off the day was the Mixed Pairs Division<\/div>\n
represented by Hazel Cruz (Santa Clara University, Hayward, CA) and Long Nguyen. They opened with<\/div>\n
keumgang and taebaek in the semi-final round. This is the first time the pair has competed together at<\/div>\n
Collegiate Worlds and their performance was very solid and showed great power and synchronization<\/div>\n
throughout both forms. They were shy of the final round by only 0.18, placing 9 th overall.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Women’s Team, comprised of Rene Chen, Carissa Fu (Princeton University, New York, NY), and Miyako<\/div>\n
Yerick (Columbia University, Annandale, VA), competed second. Competing with keumgang and taebaek<\/div>\n
in the finals, they represented the US well, despite slight wobbles in keumgang. They came back with a<\/div>\n
strong taebaek to finish the day 7th overall. The women had a very tough draw competing with a group<\/div>\n
of multiple former world medalists.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
The final event of Day 2 was the Men’s Team Division, comprised of Alvin Jong (University of California,<\/div>\n
Davis, San Jose, CA) Long Nguyen, and Lance Supnet (Evergreen Valley College, San Jose, CA). Performing<\/div>\n
taebaek and pyongwon in the finals, they had the best result of all events across the 2 days: they<\/div>\n
narrowly missed the medal stand by 0.16, finishing 5th overall.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
All poomsae competitors showed great determination and focus. They did an amazing job against an<\/div>\n
experienced international crowd and are working successfully to improve the international reputation of<\/div>\n
poomsae in the United States. The caliber of competition has increased tremendously over the past few<\/div>\n
years. US Poomsae Team Head Coach Huy Nguyen said, “With each competition, we are continuing to<\/div>\n
learn from the top athletes and coaches in this discipline. There is definitely room for growth, however,<\/div>\n
we continue to hang close with the top teams and increase our level with each passing year. We had a<\/div>\n
great year, and it’ll be even better next year.”<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
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