Jordan’s Saleh Elsharabaty finished second best in the final of the men’s -80kg taekwondo category against favourite and world number one Maksim Khramtcov, who claimed the Russian Olympic Committee's first Olympic gold medal in the sport.
Elsharabaty couldn’t quite replicate the heroics of Rio 2016 gold medalist and compatriot Ahmad Abu-Ghaush. However the 22-year-old from Amman can be satisfied with his impressive campaign, claiming Jordan’s first Olympic silver and the nation’s second ever medal.
The 2021 Asian Championship winner had to overcome some tough opponents on the way to the final, including an intense semi-final encounter against Uzbekistan’s Nikita Rafalovich that had to be decided in a golden points round.
In the final, Elsharabaty ran out of steam as the Russian took an early lead and dominated throughout at the Makuhare Messe in Tokyo.
In the opening rounds, both fighters were tentative. Khramtcov landed two kicks to apply early pressure. By the end of the second round, the Jordanian picked up just one point as a result of a penalty point, making the score 7-1.
There was a moment of hope at the beginning of the third round when the Jordanian opened with a turning kick to the head, claiming five points to reduce the deficit to one. However, Khramtcov responded with aggression and style, picking up multiple points with a series of kicks to the body and head, overwhelming Elsharabaty with a final score of 20-9.
Aside from that one spinning kick, the Russian’s defence had been impenetrable throughout the day, having conceded just seven points from all three fights before the final.
It was the Khramtcov’s 16th gold medal in major competitions, but his first Olympic title. Monday proved to be a memorable day for the ROC, as Khramtcov added to the golds that were won by the men’s team in artistic gymnastics as well as the gold Sofia Pozdniakova picked up in the women's sabre individual fencing final against Sofya Velikaya.
In the same competition, Egypt’s Seiff Eissa took home the bronze medal. The 23-year-old African Championship winner triumphed convincingly against Norwegian Richard Andre Ordemann with a final score of 12-4.
Earlier, Hedaya Wahba secured Egypt their first medal by defeating Paige McPherson of Team USA in the women's taekwondo bronze match. Malak prevailed 17-6 in the 67kg contest.
Wahba claimed her second Olympic medal, having previously claimed a bronze in the 57 kg category at Rio 2016.
Wahba, 28, beat Magda Wiet Henin of France 11-10 in the round of 16 and lost to Great Britain’s Lauren Williams in the quarter-final. She won her repechage contest against Malia Paseka 19-0 to earn a shot at bronze.
Malak is Egypt's highest profile athlete at the Tokyo Olympics and entered the tournament having overcome an ankle injury scare. She was among Egypt's three medallists at the Rio Games.
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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