Grandmaster Jeong-hee Lee, consulate general of the Republic of Korea in Mumbai and India taekwondo national team head coach, was in attendance at the 2nd Mumbai Consulate General Cup, 2018, Open Taekwondo Championship at the Balewadi Sports Complex on October 19-20, 2018.
In close quarters with Kukkiwon – the world Taekwondo headquarters – he is now promoting the game in the country, and has played a pivotal role in bringing the national level tournament to Pune. Lee spoke exclusively to Hindustan Times about his decision to have the tournament in the city and his general contribution to the development of the sport in India.
What was the decision behind having a national level event, only the second of its kind, here in Pune?
Pune is a very passionate city. The home minister of Maharashtra has also supported the sport and I am thankful to him. The sport of taekwondo is already doing very well here. Kukkiwon, sent me to develop the sport in India. First I was working from Delhi, but since this is the ‘Oxford of India’, I decided to develop it here in Pune. Now, as I’m staying in the city, it has a special place in my heart, so we decided to keep it here.
Are there any guidelines issued by Kukkiwon in order to improve taekwondo in the country?
{{/usCountry}}Are there any guidelines issued by Kukkiwon in order to improve taekwondo in the country?
{{/usCountry}}My job is to train taekwondo coaches here in India and thus develop the game. I serve as a liaison between the Kukkiwon headquarters and India, be it the coaches, referees, masters, etc. I go for a number of seminars and teach students the correct methods of taekwondo.
Your thoughts on the quality of fighters since you’ve moved to India? Has there been a drastic change?
Of course, the level of fighters here has gone up. Last year India’s ranking in the world was 34. Before I came, it was 90. So I’m glad with the progress I have seen in our fighters. Now I aim to make it number one and I’m working towards that goal.
What needs to be done for India to win a taekwondo medal at the Olympics?
First thing we need is stability in terms of the federation. There is no consistency in terms of the multiple federations. Another drawback is that the top sides in the world have a video recording facility where they already have an insight on their opponents before facing them and are constantly looking at the mistakes they’re making and are rectifying that. In India, we do not have that facility.
What according to you is the problem with the federations?
We have three taekwondo federations in India and each one of them wants to be number one. In all other sports there is only one that represents players, coaches, officials, but unfortunately, in taekwondo there are three. Because of this students are divided and so are the coaches. There’s also politics within the three federations where they’re trying to prove they’re better than the rest. If you have one federation then you have a huge pool of resources to choose from.
Are there any steps being taken to unify these federations?
None of the federations are willing to unify. I feel that one should say, ‘Okay you’re number one, I’ll take a step back and help improve the sport of taekwondo, but none of them are saying that. That’s why championships like this are open championships so fighters from any federation are welcome to come and participate. There are no names of any federations here.