Newlands fly the flag for Irish squad at ITF Worlds

NEWLANDS Taekwondo Club in Clondalkin had several members compete in the ITF World Championships last weekend which were held in Porec, Croatia.

Six members from the team were selected by the Irish squad to represent their country.

Cara Byrne, Kamil Falowski, Bartosz Bien, Richard Yakymov, Calum Thompson and Sophie Tapiz were the chosen six from Newlands who made the trip to Croatia.

The competition was hugely successful for Ireland ranking number 1 overall with three members of Newlands Taekwondo earning themselves individual Gold medals.

Cara Byrne beat Ukraine in her final, Kamil Falowski won the Heavyweight division and Bartosz Bien avenged his loss in the 2023 final defeating the same Chilean fighter in a rematch to become a World Champion

Sophie Tapiz won a bronze medal in the patterns category as well as winning gold in the Junior Team Power Breaking event while Bartosz Bien and Kamil Falowski would earn themselves a second gold medal in the Senior Male Team Sparring category beating a very tough Argentina side in the final.

Established in 2008 by Carl and Stephen Smullen, Newlands has gone from strength to strength and established themselves as one of the top Taekwondo clubs in the country.

With over 120 clubs in Ireland at the moment, Carl elaborated on why Newlands performed so well and could have so many athletes at the World Championships.

“I think it’s the dedication of the students and the coaching.

‘We look to see where they are and what to work on.

‘We give a lot of feedback and review after championships. They buy in to what we ask them to do whether that be strength training or looking at their tactics, they take it on board.

‘The competitors put a lot of trust in us and we put a lot of trust in them and I think that’s what sets us apart.”

While there is obviously a contingent of elite practitioners within the club, Carl is keen to emphasise the community aspect of Newlands.

“We’ve a great group of members who started as young kids and now are teenagers or adults and trained the whole way up.

‘There’s a great social side to it as well and they are good friends and teammates as well as being top level athletes.

‘That’s what we’re most proud of, the results are great and we’re really proud of that but to see the development of the kids and how Taekwondo has contributed to their life has been great.”

The athletes have little time to rest however, National Championships are being held in November in Limerick which will play a big role in qualification for next year’s European Championships.

After the European Championships in 2026 is a World Cup that October which is being held in Benidorm.

Only days back from their amazing performance at the World Championships the team is already looking ahead to next year’s competition.