SA steals bronze at Taekwon-Do champs
The eager fighters traveled to Nicosia, in the Northern Turkish Republic of Cyprus, to represent South Africa
Several local students from the Martial Arts Masters Academy Dojo helped South Africa claim a stunning third place at the Global Taekwon-Do Federations Euro/Asia Championships earlier this month.
The eager fighters traveled to Nicosia, in the Northern Turkish Republic of Cyprus, to represent South Africa from July 4-7.
The students were instructed by Master Vladimir Grachev, who holds a 7th Degree Black Belt in both Korean Martials Arts of Taekwon-Do and Hapki-Do and is a former world champion, international instructor and coach for the South African GTF Taekwon-Do team. Under the instruction of Grachev, and assisted by black belt instructors Miki Oshua and Humaira Khan, the team attained excellent results.
Oshua, a Dolphin Coast local, said they were dumbstruck by the amazing finish.
“It was a total surprise for SA to take third place in the tournament as we had a much smaller team than many of the other competing countries.
Students were selected after competing in local championships and underwent a six-month intensive training program to prepare them for the Euro/Asia Championships.
“For many of the students this was their first trip abroad to compete in an international tournament, so it was great for them. The standard of fighting is a lot higher at these sorts of events and they can learn a lot from taking part.”
The following local black belts earned medals: Miki Oshua (II Degree) a gold for sparring and a silver for patterns, Humaira Khan (I Degree) a gold for sparring and a gold for patterns and Collin Naidoo (I Degree) a silver for sparring while a further three silvers and one gold were earned by fighters from Centurion.
Meanwhile in the colour belt events the SA team earned one bronze, two silvers and a remarkable seven gold medals in both disciplines.
The students expressed their sincere thanks to Master Grachev for his excellent instruction and all their sponsors and supporters, without whom this result would not have been possible.
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