Jordan Taekwondo coach Fares Al-Assaf revealed that the players’ morale is high and they have reached the required readiness before starting their participation in the the Olympicscurrently held in the French capital, Paris.
Today, Tuesday, Al-Assaf led the training session that was held in one of the training halls in the Saint-Denis area of the French capital.
The Jordanian Taekwondo team in this edition of the Olympics is represented by 4 players: Zaid Mustafa (under 68 kg), Juliana Al-Sadiq (under 67 kg), Saleh Al-Sharbaty (under 80 kg), and Rama Abu Al-Rub (over 67 kg).
This is the first time that four Jordanian Taekwondo players have qualified at once for the same Olympic edition, as Zaid Mustafa, Juliana Al-Sadig and Saleh Al-Sharbaty qualified through the world rankings, while Rama Abu Al-Rub qualified through the Asian qualifiers.
Jordan Taekwondo Coach: High readiness and strong competition
Jordan’s Taekwondo coach, Fares Al-Assaf, confirmed in his statements to the Jordanian Olympic Committee website that the players’ technical and physical readiness has reached the required level, after a good period of preparations that included local and international camps and participation in a number of tournaments.
Al-Assaf said: “We look forward to continuing to achieve Olympic achievements. We have a good group of male and female players who have proven their abilities in the strongest taekwondo championships in the world.”
The Jordanian Taekwondo coach added: “The competition will certainly be very intense in the Paris Olympics, given that all those participating here are Taekwondo champions and have great potential. We trust our team and the players’ desire to achieve the best in this major sporting event.”
High hopes for Zaid Mustafa
Player Zaid Mustafa will open the Jordanian Taekwondo participation the day after tomorrow, Thursday, where he will meet in the round of 16 with Brazilian Edival Pontes.
According to monitoring and follow-ups win winZaid Mustafa, who is participating in the Olympics for the first time, is the strongest candidate to win a medal for Jordan, as the player is highly prepared and has distinctive capabilities.
Next Friday, Saleh Al-Sharbaty, ranked fifth in his weight, will meet Brazilian Ferran Rodriguez in the round of 16, while in the same round, Juliana Al-Sadig, ranked third in her weight, will meet Fiji’s Navoga Naitasi in the round of 16.
Jordanian Taekwondo participation in the Paris Olympics will conclude next Saturday through player Rama Abu Al-Rub – ranked ninth in her weight – who will meet in the round of 16 with Moroccan player Fatima Al-Zahra Abu Fares.
The regulations for the Taekwondo competition at the Paris Olympics stipulate that 4 medals will be awarded: one gold, one silver, and two bronze, with a “consolation” medal in the event that the player loses to one of the two players who qualified for the final.
It is noteworthy that Jordanian Taekwondo had achieved two Olympic medals in the last two editions, as Ahmed Abu Ghosh won the gold medal in the Rio Olympics in 2016, and the player Saleh Al-Sharbaty also won the silver medal in the Tokyo edition, which took place in 2021.
