Farrell and Doyle record big medal wins in Tallinn

IT WAS a week to remember for South Dublin Taekwondo’s Shauna Farrell and Ryan Doyle, with the former twice making the podium in Estonia last week when she won bronze in the European Cadet Championships before topping the podium in the Tallinn Open, just like Doyle.

Joining her clubmates Adam Nugent, Leroy Dilandu and Doyle on the Ireland squad, Farrell finished third in the -51kg division at the Europeans after surmounting Bosnian and Spanish opposition en route to the semi finals where she was edged out by her German opponent.

Joining only a handful of Irish competitors who have carded medals in European taekwondo, Farrell was on a sound footing heading into the Tallinn Open – a European ranking event for youths and a World ranking event for seniors.

She continued on to record her first gold at an international ranking event, chalking up three wins over French, Ukrainian and Dutch opposition to follow in the footsteps of her older sister Lauren.

Doyle, meanwhile, overcame Estonian, Israeli and Finnish opposition to reach the top step on the podium in the Junior -73kg class.

Coaching for the first time since the Olympic Games in Tokyo, SDTKD’s Robert Taaffe was elated, saying ‘Both [Doyle and Farrell] fought out of their skin, and fought smart.

“Fighting over two consecutive days has its pros and cons. Both had a few knocks we had to manage.

“Ryan couldn’t use his left hand, but adapted well and used his other strengths. Shauna has some heavy bruises on her most active leg from clashing, but both kept up their momentum from their event the day previous and managed each of their opponents’ challenges well” he said.

The pair now set their sights on events throughout the remainder of 2021 as Doyle closes out his junior career and Farrell looks towards a final year in Cadets