The kick that got Steven Lopez was a double up kick, with the right foot aiming high into the left side of Steven's head which was brushed off by the shoulder and some evasion, and then the falling Aaron Cook somehow managed to throw his left kick in towards Steve's right side of the head and his kick connected as he nearly landed on the mats.  You could see the KO kick took effect as Steven was falling onto the mats.

This is a superb kick that was executed with some great balancing skills, timing and accuracy.  Superb kicking skill and excellent kick delivery, and against such a formidable opponent too.

And this happened very early at the start of the second round too which showed good attacking strategy, rather than counter fighting skills.  Goes to show, you just cannot relax at this level of competition, and when done against such a formidable player like Steven Lopez makes this effort that much more special.  It will be the talk in taekwondo circles for a long time.

Steven Lopez was the 1996 junior world champion and Aaron Cook the 2008 junior world champion.  Perhaps Aaron could emulate Steven's industrious taekwondo career, he has 12 years to do it; or maybe Steven may just continue to stretch his successes even further.

This post keeps a tab on comments received from readers who sent in email messages:

1. (from Perth, Australia): Aaron Cook grabbed the uniform of Steven Lopez (left hand side near the shoulder – Aaron used his right hand) before he unleashed his first kick towards Steven's left side of the head.  note (i): the referee was on the other side of the players in this exchange and would not have seen this grabbing action or would not have been definite that a grab occurred that impeded the opponent player (Steven), whereas the on camera did “see it” as seen on video.  note (ii): if there was a video replay format available, perhaps the US coach, Jean Lopez could have appealed the action and requested that the KO be annulled and Aaron Cook be penalised by a kyong-go.  The rules state that if the point is scored by using a prohibitive act, then the point is annulled and the offender is penalised.  note that the World Taekwondo Pro Tour competition did not use the video replay format.
2. (from California, USA and from Mandurah, Australia): The kick was a lucky shot.  note (i): yes it did look like a lucky shot, but what a great kick, and it happened so fast and it would require great skill to execute such a kick.  So perhaps the kick that KO'ed Steven itself may look like a lucky shot but the execution of the kick is not.
3. (from Mandurah, Australia): The kick was planned. note (i): In an earlier match versing Korea, Aaron Cook attempted a similar kick, so it could be that Aaron Cook had actually practiced this type of double-up kick and it is one of his repertoire of techniques to use in tournament competition.  And to be able to execute such a combination of kicks in a high class level competition can only give more credence to Aaron's skills, and you would note that Aaron was falling down as he unleashed his follow-up kick that KO'ed Steven.  And to be able to perform and execute such a kick in an awkward position would require  pre practice and training.
4. (from Guam, and from Copenhagen, Denmark): Well done to the British player in knocking out a living legend.  Let's hope he can emulate Steven's illustrious career.  note (i): both players had won world junior championships, Steven in 1996 and Aaron in 2008 – 12 years apart.  note (ii):  it was noted that Aaron had shown great promise as a young teenager in his early years of competitions at international events such as US Open, 2006 world juniors, 2006 Commonwealth Championships and 2007 Australian Youth Olympics.
5. (from Californmia, USA, and from Mandurah, Australia): The best players in the world are always under scrutiny and are always watched and studied by opposing players and coaches via video, slow mo action replay of past competition fights and of course the use of high tech studies and strategic analyses of strengths and weaknesses.  I suppose Steven's every move good and bad would have been studied so many times the world over that his weaknesses would have been identified and strategies planned to get through Steven's defences.  Perhaps, this double kick is one such strategic move used by Aaron to get to Steven Lopez.  Aaron had in the past wanted to KO Steven in a fight match, and he has has now done it.  So could it be all pre-planned?  Have your say.
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