TAEKWONDO STEP UP OLYMPIC PLANS WITH BRONZE

A week after the Jordan Olympic Committee approved the Jordan Taekwondo Federation’s plans to qualify fighters for the 2016 Rio Olympics, the team has delivered with a bronze in Morocco.

It will be a tough road to qualify for Rio, but national team newcomer Laith Izzat has started well by winning bronze in the International Morocco Taekwondo Championship.

While not recognised as a top tier event, it still attracted 483 top class fighters from 35 countries with Izzat’s success coming in the 68kg competition.

After defeating Ireland’s Conor Grassick and Morocco’s Yassen Shawish in the qualifying matches, Izzat beat local favourite Elias Yousuf in the quarter final before losing in the semi-final to another Moroccan, Feisal Saidi, to settle for bronze.