British taekwondo chief says new judging system is far from flawless

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

SPORT Taekwondo UK's performance director Gary Hall admits the new judging system is far from flawless and called on the world governing body to standardise the technology.

SHOCKED: Sarah Stevenson can't believe it when the judges missed her late kick at the Beijing Olympics (Getty Images)

Hall is only too aware of the need to revolutionise taekwondo judging, having seen Great Britain's Olympic bronze medallist, Sarah Stevenson, reinstated in Beijing after judges missed a blatant kick to the head in the dying seconds of her bout.

At last October's World Championships, the new system was introduced which allowed competitors to make the judges look the action again while electronic body armour was also used to improve scoring.

But on the eve of the European Championships in St Petersburg, Hall revealed the system is still taking some getting used to - and believes it is costing his troops medals.

"What we want is a definitive electronic judging system as well as high quality referees but at the moment we haven't got that," said Hall.

"We need to get rid of as much of the subjectivity as possible.

"It's not just one system that is used at all competitions. There was one specific one used at the World Championships and then we recently found out it would be a different one at the Europeans.

"It's difficult and there have been a few teething problems but we are moving in the right direction but it does make a difference.

"At the World Championships we were four points away from winning four medals, so the smallest of margins are the difference between medals and no medals, but that's the sport."