Although the Egyptian Para Taekwondo team was formed just a few months ago, Egypt hosted the fourth African Para Taekwondo Championship which attracted 30 countries which competed in the K41, K42, K43 and K44 categories, with each category incorporating three weights for men: 61kg, -75kg and +75kg and three for women: -49kg, -58kg and +58kg. Egypt had 14 players -- 11 men and three women. Salma Ali was Egypt's sole medalist, collecting the silver after beating Beriana Saliro of the US in the quarter-finals 6-4 and Serbia's Mariga Macuff in the semi-finals 31-28 before losing to Turkey's Gamzeh Gordal 9-20 in the finals. Ahmed Al-Fouli, head of the African Taekwondo Federation and vice president of the World Taekwondo Federation, expressed his gratitude to the governor of the Red Sea Ahmed Abdallah for all the help he gave to make the event a success. “I am very happy that the Egyptian national team took a medal among such a large number of countries especially that we created a national team only a few months ago. I am also very happy with the number of countries participating as it reflects that the event is an important one and we can work harder to host it on an annual basis.” Abdallah welcomed the guests. “We are giving a good example of how successful we are in hosting and organising international events. Hurghada is always welcoming the countries of the world with their athletes at any time, to compete and enjoy Egyptian civilisation.” In the sixth Taekwondo Egypt Open G2, Egypt collected a gold medal and four bronze in the three-day event that again was hosted by Hurghada with the participation of 314 athletes representing 47 countries. Hedaya Malak of Egypt, in the -67kg, won the gold after beating Germany's Venicia Corndoll 11-6 in the final round. Malak reached the finals after defeating Italy's Christina Gaspa 10-0 in the quarter-finals and Jordan's Johana Al-Sadeh 6-3 in the semis. Abdel-Rahman Wael snared the bronze medal in the -68kg after overpowering Niger's Ismail Yacoub 21-12 in the 16th round and Switzerland's Thomas Shardon in the quarter-finals before losing to Spain's Hafia Polo 6-19 in the semis. Mahmoud Ghazlan garnered a bronze in the +87kg after overcoming Niger's Abdul Isofo 14-0. Ghazlan was playing for his club and not the national team. Moaz Nabil came up with the second bronze medal in the -54kg after losing in the semis to Spain's Adrian Younla. The third bronze medal came via Ahmed Wael in the -63kg after he lost to Italy's Simon Chriskenzy, while Salah Khairi collected the fourth bronze medal in the -87kg after losing in the semis to Tunisia's Yassin Tarabolsi. Minister of Youth and Sports Ashraf Sobhi attended the closing ceremony and was awarded an honourary black belt for his support of the sport in Egypt. Sobhi thanked the Egyptian Taekwondo Federation for the successful organisation of the championship. “I hope we can host an event in every governorate of Egypt as we have a number of sports facilities that are up to international standards,” Sobhi said. “This year's championship,” Amr Selim, Egypt's taekwondo president, said, “has attracted a great number of participants including world champions and 314 athletes representing 47 countries: seven from Asia, 21 representing the African continent and 18 representing Europe in addition to the US”. Selim thanked Sobhi for his care “and great support giving a helping hand to make the event a real success”. Sobhi had called for the renovation of the Hurghada Indoor Halls to be up to par with the event. He also thanked Governor Abdallah for agreeing to host the event. He said he decided to change the governorate hosting the event from Luxor to Alexandria and this year to Hurghada to offer a wider variety for foreigners to experience touristic cites in Egypt and boost tourism. Egypt participated in the event with 16 men and 13 women players. The two tournaments were held from 20-24 February.
