Jordan’s Juliana Al Sadeq makes taekwondo history

AMMAN — Juliana Al Sadeq has made history by becoming the first female taekwondo fighter from Jordan to medal at a World Grand Prix event.

Al Sadeq was in the form of her life as she made it through to the semifinal of the -67kg event in Moscow where she lost by a solitary point, 11-10, to Lauren Williams, of Wales, who went on to lose the final.

Earlier she beat Ukraine’s Daria Yakuvelvia, 10-4, and then the USA’s Paige McPherson — the world’s fourth seed and Olympic bronze medallist.

The victory makes Sadeq only the second Jordanian to win a medal at a World Grand Prix event, following in the footsteps of Olympic gold medallist Ahmad Abu Ghaush who missed the event through injury. He won a gold and a bronze last year.

Meanwhile, teammate Hamzeh Qattan went out in the quarter-final of +80kg weight after losing to Gabon’s Antoni Obami.

Qattan launched his campaign with wins over Poland’s Peter Hatuski and World No. 1 and European champion, Vladislav Larin, of Russia, before losing in the last eight.