Éthienne Brunet had only one watchword in mind for his first participation in the Taekwondo World Championships: make the most of it. The Quebecer left everything on the mats in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday, where he managed to win two of his three fights.
“I didn’t necessarily have a result goal for the worlds, I just wanted to give it my all and have no regrets. I wanted to have fun! There was obviously a certain feverishness and a little nervousness as it is the World Championships, but I was able to manage it all well, ”said Brunet in an interview with Sportcom.
In his first duel of the day at -87 kg, Brunet defeated Georgia’s Ozdjan Pashaev, in what he considered an ideal first-round fight.
“The Georgian is a super good fighter, but it was quite easy to play with him. It was perfect as a first fight, he has experience, but not more than that. I knew from the start that I was going to have the advantage,” he said.
However, the task was more difficult in the next round when he had to face Patrik Divkovic, ranked eighth in the world. The 25-year-old athlete gave everything to overcome the Slovenian in two sets.
“I knew it was going to be more complicated, but I wanted to give everything on the mats once again. I didn’t put any pressure on myself and it went really well. I dominated the first run, but he came back to the charge afterwards. I held my end to beat him. »
Brunet’s road ended in the round of 16 when he was defeated by Egyptian Ahmad Rawy. The Quebecer was able to win the first round, but his opponent, seventh on the world board, came back strong afterwards to turn the tide. Brunet, however, believes that the third and final set could have gone either way.
“It went really well in the first set, but there were several controversial sequences afterwards. I was penalized for tripping him after I kicked him and later I hit him near the throat and he fell, only to be entitled to three minutes of medical assistance, which took me out of my bubble a bit. It was tight, but he ended up winning,” explained Brunet.
Be that as it may, Éthienne Brunet said he was extremely happy with his stay at the World Championships, he who is quietly thinking of retirement in order to be able to concentrate on his other goals in the professional world.
“Slowly, but surely, I’m starting to want to focus on my professional life. I’ve dedicated my life to taekwondo so far and it won’t be easy to quit. I don’t know when I will retire from the sport, but until then I want to enjoy every moment on the mats,” he concluded.
Also in action on Wednesday in Baku, Vivianne Tranquille (-49 kg) won her first round duel against Uladzislava Sarokina (neutral athlete), before then dropping the flag in the next round to Kazakh Botakoz Kapanova.
As for Cedric Ndzouli, he lost his only clash of the day against Australian Liam Sweeney in the under 80kg draw.
Then, on Monday, Nathalie Iliesco (-67 kg) posted a record of one win and one loss.
The Taekwondo World Championships will continue until June 4 in Baku. Marc-André Bergeron (+87 kg) and Charlélie Mercier (-74 kg) will be the other Quebecers in action.