Following a successful year for Loughborough students Taekwon-Do in competitions including the TAGB World Championships, it was again time to test their mettle at national level at the GTUK British Championships 2008 held in Stratford Upon Avon. The event continued to attract competitors from all over the country, with a strong contingent of Loughborough’s main rivals from Scotland. Loughborough were un-phased and by the end of the day and went on to become national champions.
The competition included all aspects of Taekwon-Do including patterns, breaking and sparring. With the competition open to all grades, it was a great opportunity for many of Loughborough’s up and coming members to showcase their talents in front of the England Squad selectors.
The patterns were dominated in the morning by Loughborough. The beginner grades showed early potential as the ladies took silver and bronze and the men took all three medals available! The standard did not drop through to the higher grades, as the men also took all medals available, with the ladies taking gold and silver. Congratulations go to Andy D’Ath and Rachel Agustsson for their hard fought gold’s.
Next came the exciting part…Sparring. The beginners stood up to the nerve-racking experience, again taking all medals in the ladies higher weight category with Suzanne Gloyne taking a hard won gold. The men’s sparring also went exceptionally well, winning over half of the medals. An amazing performance considering there were over twenty clubs competing! Congratulations go to Chris Brown for his gold from a particularly brutal final, and Richard Galloway’s tough battle for his silver.
Helen Martin's awesome side kick
Rich Galloway with a sneaky jab to the ribs
Congratulations also go to Tom Pateman, Amit Kotecha, Andy Kirkwood and Joe Leung for recently qualifying as black belts and then immediately competing at such a high level.
In all, the day was a huge success for Loughborough Students who performed exceptionally with a fantastic team spirit.