Paulo Melo
Personal information
Full namePaulo Ricardo Melo
NationalityBrazilian
Born (1997-03-01) 1 March 1997
Assú, Rio Grande do Norte
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
SportTaekwondo
ClubTeam Taekwondo Escola
Coached byFábio Lourenço
Medal record
Representing  Brazil
Men's taekwondo
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2019 Manchester54 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Team
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Lima 58 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago 58 kg
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 Punta Cana54 kg
Silver medal – second place2018 Spokane54 kg
Bronze medal – third place2021 Cancún54 kg
South American Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Asunción 58 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Cochabamba 58 kg
Military World Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Wuhan 54 kg

Paulo Ricardo Souza de Melo (born March 1, 1997) is a Brazilian taekwondo athlete[1] who won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships on the men's 54 kg.[2]

Career

Paulo started playing the sport in 2009, in the social project "Projovem", with coach Fabio Lourenço. [3]

At the 2018 South American Games held in Cochabamba, Bolivia, Melo won a bronze medal in the 58 kg category. [4]

At the 2018 Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Spokane, USA, Melo won a silver medal. [5][6]

At the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships held in Manchester, United Kingdom, Melo won a bronze medal in the Men's finweight category. [7]

At the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, Melo won a bronze medal in the Men's 58 kg category. [8][9]

At the 2021 Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Cancún, Mexico, Melo won a bronze medal in the -54 kg category. [10]

At the 2022 Pan American Taekwondo Championships held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Melo obtained the biggest title of his career by obtaining the gold medal in the 54 kg category.[11]

At the 2022 South American Games held in Asunción, Paraguay, Melo won the gold medal in the 58 kg category.[12]

At the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico, Melo started with a 2-0 victory over Australian Benjamin Camua, with scores of 15-1 and 16-4. In the round of 16, Melo had another triumph, beating the Chinese Zhou Xiao 2-0 (7-1 and 5-1). The Brazilian ended up losing in detail in the quarterfinals, against the South Korean Bae Jun-seo. The first round was tied at 0-0, when Paulo had a fall while attempting a strike at the last second, giving his opponent a point. In the second, a 5-5 draw, with the Asian winning the tiebreaker to close the duel 2-0 (1-0 and 5*-5). Melo finished in 5th place.[13]

At the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Melo, tenth in the world rankings, debuted against Swede Bleron Ademi and won 2-1 (6/6, 9/1 and 10/3). Then, in the round of 16, he faced Spaniard Hugo Arillo and was defeated in partials of 6/3, 4/6 and 5/4. Melo was ahead on the scoreboard in the last two rounds, but suffered a comeback. [14]

At the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile, Melo repeated his 2019 result, again obtaining bronze in the individual category.[15] The Brazilian men's team, formed by Melo, Maicon Andrade and Edival Pontes, won an unprecedented gold medal for the country, after a thrilling comeback over Cuba in the semifinals, with a 76-60 triumph, and a crushing victory over Chile 48 to 16, where the Brazilian team was impressive in front of the noisy fans who attended the Centro de Deportes de Contacto. [16]

References

  1. ↑ "TaekwondoData". TaekwondoData. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  2. ↑ "Paulo Ricardo Melo conquista a medalha de bronze no Campeonato Mundial de taekwondo". Globoesporte (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  3. ↑ Paulo Ricardo Melo conquista medalha de bronze no Mundial de Taekwondo Manchester 2019
  4. ↑ Maicon Andrade "goleia" argentino e é campeão sul-americano de taekwondo
  5. ↑ Equipe brasileira conquista 14 medalhas no Pan-Americano
  6. ↑ Maicon Andrade perde na semifinal e fica com o bronze no Pan-Americano nos EUA
  7. ↑ Paulo Ricardo Melo conquista medalha de bronze no Mundial de Taekwondo Manchester 2019
  8. ↑ Talisca Jezierski conquista a prata do taekwondo no Pan de Lima
  9. ↑ Brasil ganha prata e bronze no primeiro dia de taekwondo no Pan
  10. ↑ Taekwondo: Brasil faura 13 medalhas no primeiro dia do Pan no México
  11. ↑ Potiguar é campeão pan-americano de taekwondo em Punta Cana
  12. ↑ Natação encerra Jogos Sul-americanos com campanha histórica
  13. ↑ Paulo Melo cai nas quartas do Mundial de Taekwondo
  14. ↑ Paulo Melo e Dângela Guimarães fecham Mundial com uma vitória
  15. ↑ Pan 2023: Paulo Ricardo vence equatoriano e conquista o bronze no taekwondo
  16. ↑ De forma heroica, Brasil conquista ouro e bronze por equipes no taekwondo em Santiago
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