(Beijing, February 29) French veteran Pascal Gentil's 3-2 victory over China's Liu Xiaobo was in the limelight of the men's +80kg quarterfinals of the "Good Luck Beijing" 2008 Taekwondo International Invitational Tournament this afternoon.

The young Chinese athlete fought aggressively in the first round, tying the score with his French counterpart at 1 all. In the second, Gentil gradually set the pace and led 2-1. Liu managed to equalize the score in the middle of the third, only to find the more experienced Gentil hitting the winner for a 3-2 triumph.

The quarter between Chinese Yin Zhimeng and his teammate Yang Fuchao saw the latter making to the next phase with a result of 3-2.

In another quarterfinal contest where China's Dong Wansheng took on Spain's Mikel Bernal Fernandez, the score was tied at 1 all after the first round. Neither side had scored in the second before the Spaniard broke the deadlock to collect two points in a row in the third. Dong added one later and Bernal was penalized one as the score was tied again, 2-2. The Spaniard hit first in the sudden-death round to enter the semifinals of the event.

China's Zheng Yi directly cruised to the semis following the withdrawal of his rival Armstrong Omoregie from Nigiria.