Croatian Open G1
South Dublin Taekwondo had a group of up and coming players & elite who travelled to Varazidin in Zagrab, Croatia on the weekend of 7-8th November. Up & coming development students in attendance included Adam Nugent in Cadets, and Aoibhe Thornton in Juniors who delighted the coaches at SDTKD to take up the offer to travel to an event that boasted 1400 athletes in 15 rings over 2 days.
There were victories for ‘experience’ for the 2 development students who did not win their games, however the mat time at this level will assist their future development. Adam lost 16-6 to a Croat opponent, and Aoibhe 6-2 to a German. At the elite end of the spectrum, Woolley was looking to continue his fantastic first year as a senior. he was seeded 2nd in the division with his points accrued previously in the year. His seeding let to a bye in round 1, in the 2nd round he defeated German Opponent Aboullatif Sezgin 23-5, stopping the match before the end of regulation time, in the 1/4 final he once again faced German opposition, Alexander Mueller beating him in a similar fashion, 22-5. In the semin finals, jacks opponent did not compete, Nimrod Krivishkiy of Isral who Jack beat in the final of last years Croatian Open junior event appeared to be injured in his previous matches. This led to a final with the number one seed, Irans Armin Hadipour Seighalaini who has never before been beaten competitively in this -54kg division. The statistics did not phase woolley who went out to a blistering lead of 9-1 after the 1st round, then lead 16-13 after round 2, and after a long video replay stoppage, the momentum carried through by the Iranian was immense, who had a major comeback to win 25-18. Initially is was hard to suffer such a comeback, however when the gravity of what was almost achieved by Woolley set in the youngster quickly refocused and noted he will beat him in Morocco later this month! The Irianian has won every event he has ever entered at -54kg, including this years Korea Open, Dutch Open, Universiade, Kazakstan Open, and now Croatia Open. This proved refreshing for Woolley & his coaches who now have a good indicator that he is creeping up on the best in the world where he is now ranked #19 in the world.
