Rafael Alba

Havana, November 18 (JIT) - Double world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Rafael Alba was left off the podium Thursday at the XXV World Taekwondo Championship in Guadalajara 2022, Mexico.

An injury took out of the competition the contestant with the best chance to enter the podium in the +87 kg division, disputed like the rest at the CODE Metropolitano Aquatic Center, renovated to host more than 750 athletes from 122 nations.

After being bye in the organization chart, the Santiago giant won two bouts and lost the third against Kazakhstan's Haparov Ruslan, silver medalist in the Asian championship held in 2018 in Vietnam.

"He won the first fight, in the second he looked very good, but in the third he felt a pain in one of his adductors and we preferred to stop the fight. She had won the initial time," Ivan Fernandez Quiros, president of the Cuban Taekwondo Federation, told JIT.

Last Saturday Alba had received the special Tokyo 2020 Olympic medalist award, given by World Taekwondo at the gala prior to the competition.

Now Cuba has one man and two girls left to compete. This Friday will contend Tamara Robles (53 kg), champion of the Central American and Caribbean Games of Barranquilla 2018. 

Remaining to compete are Akely Matos (54 kg) and Dalila Oneida Villamil (46 kg). Four other specialists have already debuted, but were far from the podium.