Six members of the North West Spirit Taekwondo Team went to the tournament as part of the Global Taekwondo International (GTI) squad, representing England. There were many teams in attendance from around the globe, with top fighters from countries such as Romania, Poland, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. It was a tough tournament, with a very high standard of competition; but the North West Spirit fighters held their own and returned with 15 medals - 1 gold, 5 silver & 9 bronze.
17-year-old Michael McCaw struck gold after a convincing win over his Scottish opponent in the final of the blue/red belt sparring division. Michael dominated the bout from start to finish, leaving no doubt in the umpires’ minds that he deserved to be crowned European Champion.
The squad’s youngest member, 10-year-old Joe Southern, gave a solid performance at his first international tournament, winning silver in sparring and bronze in patterns. His team mate, 11-year-old Callum Edwards, won a hard-earned bronze in sparring after a tremendous effort against the older, taller boys in his division. He also took part in the team events as part of the GTI England boys team, earning two further bronze medals in team patterns and team sparring.
16-year-old Demi McCaw was the squad’s most junior member in terms of experience. Despite having only taken up taekwondo six months’ previously, her success at national tournaments and dedication to training earned her an England squad place. In Hungary, she drew some tough matches against much more experienced Romanian fighters, but manged a bronze medal in sparring and a silver medal in patterns at her first international tournament.
Liverpool’s black belt ladies – Stef Davies (33) and Lucy Sanders (33) – had tough opposition in the senior divisions, where they went up against some of the Europe’s best taekwondo practitioners. Both ladies earned podium places in the patterns event, where Stef took silver and Lucy took bronze; and Stef also won a bronze medal in sparring. Both ladies competed in the team events as part of the GTI England ladies team, each winning a silver medal for special technique and a bronze medal in team sparring.
The North West Spirit Taekwondo Team are now back in training, hoping to build on their experience in order to achieve further success at future tournaments.
Further details on North West Spirit Taekwondo classes can be found online at www.halewoodtaekwondo.com.
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