New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS): The opening ceremony for the main stage of the 2020 Online Open National Taekwondo Championship was held virtually on Thursday. While the preliminary rounds started on September 28, the main events start from Thursday. India Taekwondo, the national governing body for the sport, said that a total of 1400 participants across 17 categories have progressed to the next round.
The team of referees for the competition comprises of 18 international referees. It will be streamed live on YouTube and India Taekwondo's official social media pages which will "feature the scores at the end of each day to let the participants know of their progress".
The final will be held on October 4 and the winners will be announced at the same time through a virtual commemoration ceremony.
"Poomsae has immense potential specifically in its eligibility at the Asian Games and this tournament will be a great opportunity to identify future prospects that will win a medal for our immensely talented country," said India Taekwondo president Namdev Shirgaonkar. "The 2020 Online Open National Taekwondo Poomsae Championship was conceptualised with the idea of getting our athletes back in the competitive spirit as soon as possible and we are ecstatic that our efforts have been brought to fruition today."
The ceremony was also attended by World Taekwondo president Chungwon Choue and Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra.