Jordan strike double taekwondo gold in Greece

AMMAN — Jordan has won two gold medals at the Greece Taekwondo Open taking place in Athens, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

Salah Al Sharabati won the -80kg category following a tremendous win over Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympic medallist Steven Lopez, 10-8.

A second gold followed for Anas Adarbeh who met the Jordan Olympic gold medallist Ahmad Abu Ghaush in the final of the -74kg weight.

However, Abu Ghaush decided to step aside in the final to allow his countryman the chance to clinch vital world ranking points, but it did mean a Jordan 1-2 on the podium.

Youngster Zeid Mustafa added a silver in the -55kg after losing the final to a Greek fighter having earlier won four fights to reach the gold medal match.

In the women’s, Juliana Al Sadeq also won a silver medal after losing the final to USA’s Paige McPherson, 10-5. It has proved to be a hugely successful tournament for Jordan with earlier medals also won by Bana Daraghmeh (silver) in the -49kg and Lu’ai Nazzal (bronze) in the -48kg, making it seven won in total so far.

HRH Prince Rashed Al Hassan, president of the Jordan Taekwondo Federation, praised the achievements of the players and congratulated them for their level of competition. But we are not done yet. On the final day, Aysha Al Saddeh will compete in the +63kg, Hamzeh Qattan will fight in the +87kg and Natalie Al Humaidi goes for glory in the -63kg.