Portugal’s taekwondo contingent faced early setbacks at the World Championships in Wuxi, China, with two key athletes, Filipa Bastos and Lucian Procopciuc, eliminated from their respective categories on Thursday.
Bastos, competing in the women’s -53 kg division, exited the competition in the second round.
The 223rd-ranked athlete achieved an upset victory in the Round of 64. She defeated Mali’s Mariam Sangaré, ranked 86th globally, by a score of 2-1 in rounds, with scores of 0-0, 0-7, and 2-2.
Her run ended against Serbia’s Andrea Bokan, who is ranked fourth worldwide. Bastos lost that second-round bout 2-0 in rounds, with scores of 8-6 and 2-0.
In the men’s -74 kg category, Lucian Procopciuc, ranked 65th globally, was defeated in his opening match.
He lost 2-0 in rounds to Kazakhstan’s Yergesh Bekassyl, who is ranked 60th. Round scores were 6-2 and 13-1.
The Portuguese national team has brought a total of 14 athletes to the World Championships.
The female delegation includes Kiara Barroso (-46 kg), Leonor Correia (-57 kg), MaÃsa Monteiro (-62 kg), Maialen Irigaray (-67 kg), and Laetitia Barroso (-73 kg), in addition to Bastos.
Male competitors include Noah Garcia (-54 kg), Tiago Lopes (-58 kg), Alfredo Martins (-63 kg), Tiago Reis (-68 kg), Manuel Martinho (-80 kg), Tiago Ribeiro (-87 kg), and Daniel Pinheiro (+87 kg), alongside Procopciuc.