Joy for Newlands Taekwon-Do Club at World Championships

THERE was plenty of celebrations for Newlands Taekwon-Do Club who came home with three gold, one silver and two bronze from the ITF World Championships in Finland last week.

It was a huge achievement for the Clondalkin club and a great way to celebrate its 15 years in existence with the team now focusing on preparation for the European Championships in Lublin, Poland in April 2024.

There was joy for Cara Byrne who became world champion with victories against Argentina, Ukraine and Slovenia.

A silver medal went the way of Bartosz Bien in the senior male -81kg category with wins against China, Ukraine, Norway and Argentina before losing out to Chile in the final.

Leard Xheladini secured a bronze medal in the senior male -87kg category with a strong performance after taking silver medal in the European Championships earlier this year.

Sophie Tapiz, who represented Ireland in individual patterns, individual sparring, team patterns and team sparring secured bronze in the under 15 sparring while Sam Keogh who made his senior debut at -81kg won the first round with a strong performance over Ukraine before pushing his Canadian opponent all the way in his second fight.

In the gala final, each country entered their best six sparrers into the team sparring event.

Bartosz Bien and Leard Xheladini of Newlands Taekwon-Do were selected as part of the Irish team.

The had the hard side of the draw facing USA, Spain, Norway, Germany before a final with Sweden where the Irish men became world champions.

“I’m absolutely thrilled for the club and members with the medals we won.

“We worked hard for this event and we are delighted to come away with the medals,” said club coach Carl Smullen.

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