A busy weekend for TKDI students on both side of the water as TKDI students from across the country attended The Open Martial Arts Intervarsity in CIT, the National Student Tae Kwon-Do Championships in Manchester and Ballincollig Tae Kwon-Do School’s annual junior tournament.
DIT TKDI had a good showing at the Open Martial Arts Intervarsity in CIT on February 2nd. First up was Seán O’Connor, who won gold in black belt patterns and black belt point sparring, and lost a close semi-final to Bishopstown TKD’s Mr. Alex Walsh on his way to a bronze in continuous sparring. Also competing was Sufyan Huma, who narrowly missed out on a medal in patterns, and was unlucky to be drawn against the eventual winner in the first round of sparring, losing a narrow decision after extra time. All in all, a good showing from the two DIT competitors who travelled and did a great job of representing the club.
Mr. Alex Walsh of Bishopstown Tae Kwon-Do competed on behalf of UCC at the Open Martial Arts Intervarsity. Mr. Walsh earned silver in individual sparring and helped the UCC team win the team sparring event.
Also on Saturday 2nd four members of the NUI Galway Taekwondo club went to Manchester to take part in the first ever National Student Taekwondo Championships, hosted by the British University Taekwondo League. There was over 150 competitors from over 30 colleges from Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland.
The team of 4 saw much success walking away with 2 gold medals and 5 bronze. Agata Rzeznik, competing in the females red belt category, managed to score bronze in patterns and had great success in sparring winning the final in a very even fight which was resolved with “first point wins” scenario after extra time. Tomás Lane, competing in the male lightweight red belt category, got bronze in patterns and sparring respectively only just losing to the winner of his section in a very close fight. Stephen Hughes was competing in one of the largest categories, competing against lightweight males in the green tag to green belt category. He had to take on much competition being the lowest grade in his category yet he gave the competition a good fight, scoring a hard earned bronze after 2 very tough fights. Nathan Deane-Huggins also saw success scoring a bronze in patterns and a well deserved gold in the lightweight colour belt division after two very impressive fights.
It was a very successful weekend with all 4 competitors coming home with well-earned medals across the board.
Finally, on Sunday 3rd Ms Catherine O’Boyle and the team from Ballincollig Tae Kwon-Do School held their annual junior tournament where the cream of TKDI juniors took to the floor and performed at their best to bring home some beautiful trophies. Students from Ballincollig, Bishopstown, Ballinora, Ballintemple, Carrigaline and Crosshaven were all in attendance at what was another great competition.
Next up for our senior students is the Tae Kwon-Do Intervarsity in UCC on February 23rd. Preparation for our trip to the INTA Nationals in Gormanston in March for all ages and grades continues, as well as our next TKDI tournament in Bishopstown in April.