Competitions
2012 Competition Dates
English Open - Saturday 24th March - Guildford Spectrum Welsh Open - Saturday 19th May - UWIC (Provisional) London Open - Sunday 8th July - Guildford Spectrum Scottish Open - Saturday 22nd September - Ravenscraig (Provisional) UK Open - TBA November - Central UK
UK Open 2011
The UKTA UK Open is always a huge event in the Taekwon-do calendar and this year was to be no exception. With over 400 competitors from around the UK the categories were large and the competition was fierce but that didn’t stop a number of Tidworth Taekwondo members from heading to Guildford spectrum to do their best and enjoy the experience.
Junior member Jack Beaumont was keen to build on the success he’d had in the Welsh open earlier in the year. After some initial equipment problems, Jack managed to fight through a number of rounds in his sparring category and achieved bronze medal position. In his favourite event, the special technique, Jack managed to perform some excellent flying sidekicks and made it through several rounds but fell just short of a medal position.
There was more medal success in the sparring, with Matthew Bates showing increased confidence in his sparring abilities and managing to achieve the silver medal position. In the patterns categories Tidworth members continued to perform their patterns to a high level and Kiera Seabrook was able to take the bronze medal for her category.
For Emily Kinchlea and Andrew Smith this was their first experience of Taekwondo competition and they showed excellent confidence and composure when under pressure. Regular competitors Tyler and Harry Hiscock also attended the competition and performed well, particularly in sparring bouts against some difficult opponents. Remember to visit the gallery for photographs from the day.
With the 2012 competition dates due to be announced any day now we hope that students will continue to see the valuable opportunity that competition provides and get the dates in their diaries so they don’t miss out next year!
Welsh Open 2011
English Open 2011
There was more success for the students of Tidworth Taekwondo at the
first UKTA tournament of 2011, held at the Guildford Spectrum on 12th March
2011. With over 400 competitors in attendance the day was sure to be a long
one and with large numbers in each category medal positions would be keenly
contested.
The day began with the pattern event and first up was Matt Bates, competing in his first ever competition. Understandably nervous, Matt acquitted himself superbly progressing through several rounds and into the medal positions. Despite another impressive performance he narrowly missed out on a place in the final, eventually taking the bronze medal. A fantastic achievement for his first taste of competition.
Tyler Hiscock added to his 2010 successes by taking bronze medals in both the pattern and sparring events. Despite being one of the youngest in his category, and invariably one of the smallest, Tyler continues to compete effectively in the strong 13-17 year division. As he continues to develop competitively it will not be long before his efforts are rewarded with gold medals.
Lorraine Ryall went one better than her efforts at last year’s English
Open by taking gold in the female blue and red belt sparring. In the final
she faced the same opponent as last year but with more focus and greater
accuracy in point scoring she overcame her more aggressive competitor. This
performance was even more credible given that Lorraine competed more rounds
than any other competitor in the category.
