South Dublin Taekwondo

Hi All,

Below is a team report from the recent Trelleborg Open. Its a detailed account & hopefully will allow members & parents see the efforts of our team abroad representing the team in Europe, and assisting the stance of our club standing for the benifit of all up & coming members!

SDTKD Team were once again in action in Sweden on February 8-9th in the cold conditions in Sweden’s Southernmost town of Trelleborg. The team as usual flew to Copenhagen Kastrup Airport, and drove via the impressive Øresund Bridge/ Tunnel to Malmo where the team were based in their lodgings. Our 14 strong convoy enjoyed the comforts of a team minibus & car for the weekend to get us around form malmo to Trelleborg.

Friday night saw the team go to the weigh in where all were sucsessful, after a bit of last minute sweating from Dylan, followed by a long overdue feed by many of our dieting players.

Øresund Bridge/ Tunnel

We were delighted to have some 1st timers from our group come along for the beginner event and some players with experience entered in the ranking advanced event.

Day 1 saw action from Jamie Gaffney, Jack Woolley & Dylan Leonard. Dylan was in action for his 1st time at such a level and had a tough bye into 2nd round which meant difficult opposition against a Spanish national team player. Dylan was also on hand as requested assistant coach to joined the team in the event of any clashes.

Jamie who picked up bronze in 2012 was in action also in a heavier weight at where a valiant effort fell slightly short of his taller more experienced opponent. Jack, who had an mixed season in late 2013 resurrected his Trelleborg form form 2012 where he was -45kg Champion, moving up to -48kg where he saw off a polish opponent in early round 15-1, then Danish in round two 16-2 both finishing by 12 point gap setting up a thrilling quarter final with the Mexican #1. The match looked like it was out of reach in the dying seconds, until the last kick of the match saw jack through to the semis against an experienced Turk. Jack started well, leading 6-0 after the first 10 seconds, but the match slipped away later on when a suspected broken arm in the final meant the lead reduced [confirmed as broken later] , unfortunately loosing 22-16. It was a brave effort, returning to the ring 2 times after first aid assistance & viewing of damaged arm. Thankfully the broken arm is expected to heal on time for the upcoming World Junior Championships.

Day 2 saw an early start for Nashat who was match #2 on the day, in his first senior ranking tournament. Nashat gave a great account of himself in a difficult match, where the strength & ability of the senior heavy weight division was made apparent. Later in the day the beginner divisions were in action where SDTKD had an oportunity to embrace the up & coming future hopefuls. Adam Nugent had a difficult outing against a player from UAE. Glen Leonard was also in action in the beginner junior -55kg, and whilst the entries were modest, Glen displayed a clinical gold medal winning display against anothe UAE team member, finishing the match by TKO in the 2nd round.

Glen Leonard after his Junior Succsess

The event as always is not expected to yield many if any medals, but hoped to be a major stepping stone in the development of players. Out travelling team were impeccable in their team representation, and we were delighted to have run the venture with some joining our team over the weekend,  with gusts from Junsa – Stuart Russell / Glen Martin & Ayrfield’s Hayley Nolan who had a strong return to the ring winning her 1st round match, and losing to the eventual gold medalist from Turkey in Round 2. The mixed group carried out many exciting behind the scenes future planning discussions have been made to help along our team.

Ireland were also represented on the weekend with -68kg Conor Grassick having a strong run of 2 senior matches, before meeting an excellent Swede in the third round. Bobby Enright, Kathryn Paes & David Murphy were all in action & it was great to see all of the groups supporting each other so well as one Irish collective over the weekend.

Thanks to all the team players, the parents & designated drivers of minibus & cars over weekend for a great collaborative effort. Our club is still relative newcomers to this circuit, but a positive contribution from travelling groups has laid excellent foundations for future club travelling teams.

Galleries of photos & videos will be uploaded below. Check back for future updates!

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