560 miles, 26 fights, 24 hours, 10 medals later the lucky 13 Kingston fighters returned home – battle hardened after the controversial 23rd BSTF National Championships. Competing under some of the most challenging conditions, the team knuckled down and shone through. Last year, this contest had seen us bring back 2 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze. This year promised to be even better!
Following an arduous overnight 6 hour coach trip the team arrived in Durham early morning in the small University town. Most of the team had had little sleep on the way up, to courtesy of a crowded, stuffy and rocky ride. Unfortunately, this affected our fighters early on in the competition. Reactions were slowed, sprits were dulled, and judgement was clouded – not ideal in an explosive marital art, where speed is everything.
Our fighters had been working hard for the 7 weeks building up to the 28th Feb following the Christmas break. Earlier in the season, we powered through for strong wins at the Cambridge open and Basingstoke Tournament. A strong core of veteran seniors inspired by the wins joined the team adding an edge of experienced confidence.
Early matches tested our sentiment, with two of our fighters conceding first round losses. The remainder of our early fights pulled close scores also. Scoring which was partly due to difficult opposition; but mostly due to the poor standard of officiating which overshadowed the whole contest. Clear kicks were ignored, penalty points wrongly issued, preference shown to particular clubs and even points scored to the wrong fighters! Only due to the senior rank of our head coach were at least some of our protests heard.
Our fighters were spurred on by support from team-mates – a true unit even with a third fighter, Mani, being eliminated from the contest, withdrawing after suffering side effects of dropping a kilo to meet weight moments before the final weigh in. After a few power naps and a regroup, few words were spoken and we soon let our fighting do the talking. Even the ‘questionable’ officials were hard pushed to cheat our fighters. Koushk ‘Ryan’, Tyrone, Tony, Michael, Tareq and Mahmut all opened the second round of bouts with 7 point leads – a win by superiority; all senior belts ending their matches in under 60 seconds. Particular credit goes to Tyrone landing a KO on a higher grade and Michael who defeated his opponent in 20 seconds flat.
The roars from the sidelines grew louder as even other Universities showed their appreciation for the flare of the Kingston Tigers. Our junior grades again proving their mettle on the mat making their way to the finals stages of their categories – eventually seeing them through to podium finishes. Unfortunately, poor officials ensured two of our most talented fighters had to settle for silver; Kerry & Mahmut were deprived of almost certain gold – no surprise their opponents were Durham fighters. The team again narrowed their focus and pulled together to settle the scores in the finals, where 3 of our finalists took undoubted victory.
The medal tally: Gold – Tyrone, Tony and Michael; Silver – Koushk ‘Ryan’, Kerry and Mahmut; Bronze – Manimaran, Evans, Tareq and Nicholas. This competition our team achieved a 77% medal rate; 30% gold – a 9% improvement on last year. 6 of our 13 fighters made it through to a final, 4 of our fighters did not loose a single match. 10 of our fighters won at least one of their matches guaranteeing a medal position.
Overall a very mixed competition! The unfortunate lack of standards in the judging ranks will not be forgotten – talks are ongoing to ensure there is a significant improvement so that Kingston, as well as all other teams, can compete in fairness.
Nonetheless, this year has seen a large move forward for KUTKD. The fighting team has grown since last year and even saw one more medal from the single entrant to the pattern contest. In spite of the distance, lack of sleep and food we truly pulled together and embodied the true spirit of a martial arts club.
All our fighters performed truly brilliantly when it mattered and done our instructors and coaches proud. Our reputation on the mat as individuals and as a club remained intact if not fortified…A true force in the British Student Taekwondo Federation.
A special thank you to Grandmaster Lindsay Lawrence (7th Dan), Master Raymond Michael (4th Dan), and Miss Lindsey bell (3rd Dan) for their coaching and support through the day.
0 comments:
Post a Comment