Polish Open
South Dublin Taekwondo were back on the road again where they visited the Polish Open Taekwondo event in Warsaw.
The event was identified by the club at it was a senior World Taekwondo Federation ranking points event, and also catered for junior and cadet categories for the club to get some exposure for their up & coming hopefuls. In the junior event SDTKD had Adam Nugent, David Phelan and Aoibhe Thornton in action and whilst they did not medal it was a great stepping stone for the players development to compete on such a stage. Young David was a golden point [first to score overtime point] away from reaching the podium at his first major event, when his 3rd round match with Lithuania went 6-6, but David was beaten in the sudden death round. In the senior event, business resumed for Jack Woolley, 16 in his year of chasing WTF ranking points. Jack reached the podium in his event in the -54kg division winning bronze, being pipped to the final by the eventual winner Jesus Tortosa Carbrerra from Spain who boasts a current worlds title, European Titles, Youth Olympics Bronze, and a Baku Games Silver. Jack had earlier had a bye in round 1 due to his 4th place seeding in the tournament, and then went on to a 13-0 demolition of his quarter finalist opponent. The Spaniard proved a step too far for Woolley, who is likely to meet him ahain in the near future at upcoming events. The event which was coached my Niamh Buffini & Dylan Leonard had 1050 competitors from around the world, many chasing Olympic Ranking Points in the hope of a pathway to qualification.
At the event SDTKD were delighted to travel alongside Junsa Taekwondo where Conor Deery was in actiononce again and had members of Ayrfield Academy [Sarah & Hayley] travel with and compete under our banner, all of whom added to a great team outing. There was a great team atmosphere where our travelling group and Peak Performance from Kerry were all coordinating over the weekend.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153525065720979.1073741965.249978405978&type=3