Medals for Woolley and Leroy in Bosnia

AHEAD of some upcoming major events, South Dublin Taekwondo’s Jack Woolley and Leroy Nsilu Dilandu were in Sarajevo, Bosnia last weekend to participate in the European Multi Taekwondo Championships.

With a goal of getting some valuable ring time and ranking points ahead a of trio of substantial Events; World Championships, Baku; Rome Grand Prix & European Games, both Tallaght natives reached the podium in their respective divisions.

Day One saw Leroy compete in his -74kg division.

Starting as seed two he met Xabier Mediavilla Lopez of Spain in the round of 16 and won his opener two rounds to nil.

A quarter final with Kadir Santas of Turkey also ended two nil in Dilandu’s favour.

Now into the medal rounds a two nil defeat to Soveria’s Lin Kovacic was the final outing for Leroy who picked up his 3rd ranking medal of the year so far settling for bronze.

Day Two was the turn of Jack Woolley in his -58kg division.

As seed one, Woolley had a bye in the round of 16 and went on to face Furkan Aydin of Turkey succeeding two rounds to nil Woolley’s semi final was against German opposition Khaled Abdel Halim also ending two rounds to nil.

A hard-fought final went to the wire at one round a piece Turkeys Enes Kaplan was successful taking gold with a silver for Woolley.

Both athletes now focus on pivotal events in the coming weeks where Dilandu and Woolley are part of the Ireland National Team travelling to Baku, Azerbaijan for the World Championships, Woolley then is on Ireland National Team duty at the Rome Grand Prix, and the duo then rejoin forces as the sole representatives of the Olympic Federation of Ireland selection event where both have qualified to represent Team Ireland’s multi-sport effort at the European Games in Poland.

The event just passed in Bosnia also served as a new chapter for the duo who are both qualified with International Coaching Licences, as they coached one another at a World Ranking event for the first time.

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