Newlands Taekwon-Do break new ground on top international stage
NEWLANDS Taekwon-Do Club has continued to break new ground in top international competition this year.
After recording their first medals on the World Championship stage in Germany back in May when Kamil Falowski (-75kg) and Laura Bien (-55kg) both won bronze along with the junior boys team, the club boasted a handful of medallists at the recent ITF European Taekwon-Do Champion-ships in Sarajevo.
Newlands TWD’s Laura Bien scoring a three-point headshot on her way to another win.
Involving almost 800 competitors from 30 nations, the Europeans saw Falowski beat Hungarian, English, Norwegian and Belarussian opposition en route to the -75kg decider.
On the other side of the draw, his clubmate Bartosz Bien secured his place in the same final after seeing off competitors from Italy, Belarus, England and Russia.
In the end it was Falowski who won out after a tough title match, subsequently becoming Newlands’ first European champion.
“Kamil had been to the World Championships and had done very well so we were hopeful he could do it again” said Newlands coach Carl Smullen.
“Both he and Bartosz performed beyond our expectations and to see them both reach the final was just great.
“They were very composed, very good performances and the toughest match for both of them was against each other in the final” he said.
In the +75kg heavyweight section, Leard Xheladini scooped bronze after making it as far as the semi finals.
He, along with Falowski and Bartosz, was part of the six strong boys team that carded wins over Belarus, Poland and Ukraine en route to silver in the Junior Sparring competition.
In the female sections, after beating competitors from Finland and Russia, Laura Bien made it through to the quarter-finals where she was edged out.
Based on her performance in the individual section, she was selected for the Junior Female Sparring team whom she helped to silver.
Senior fighter Lee Kavanagh put on an amazing performance and was undone only by the vice world champion from Belarus.
Rian Byrne, making his international debut in the –50kg division, beat a solid Ukrainian fighter in his opening fight before losing out to the eventual gold medallist from Russia.
“We were delighted with the performance of all our fighters in the European Championships” said Smullen.
“These young men and women trained incredibly hard in preparation, putting in 6-7 days per week, on top of schoolwork and exams.
“We are delighted to see so many medals coming back as it shows their hard work is paying off” he added.
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