Well done to our tournament team for a fantastic day at the NWTKD North West Open Competition on 10th February. Our team of 13 students won 19 medals: 9 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze!
In the junior yellow belt divisions, Nikola Kliza continued her winning form, taking silver medals in both patterns and sparring. Mikey Fitzgibbon and William Brennan gave solid performances in their sparring divisions, both winning silver medals.
Joseph Brennan and Oscar Booth both performed well in their individual and team patterns divisions. Oscar was competing for the first time and only narrowly missed out on a medal in the green belt patterns category, coming fourth overall.
Our four blue belt students dominated their divisions. Malika Nafees won two gold medals in patterns and sparring, becoming double North West Champion. Saad Jaffery and Harry Fowler both got stuck into their sparring bouts, fighting determinedly against some tough opponents to win well-deserved gold medals. Alan Johnson fought furiously, just missing out on the top spot and winning a silver medal. The fab four also took part in the team patterns event, each winning a bronze medal.
In the junior black belt divisions, Callum Edwards impressed the judges with his strong technical performance to take gold in patterns. In sparring, Callum had a challenging final fight against a very tall opponent, but he faced it with his usual style and spirit. After a fast and furious fight, he narrowly lost out and took the silver medal.
Amelia Fowler gave an impressive performance in her sparring category. She came up against some tough, taller fighters and some hard hitters; but she got stuck in each time and showed true fighting spirit.
Connor Murphy just missed out on a sparring medal , but was delighted to win a gold medal in team patterns along with Amelia and Callum. Not bad considering they only cobbled it together on the day!
Our team’s final fighter of the day was Phil Southern. Despite a break from competing, and despite having no one of his own size and grade to fight, he took on the heavier weights and fought strategically and skilfully to take the gold medal.
Well done to the whole team on a successful day! There were some very tough bouts, but we were pleased to see our students getting stuck in and showing great fighting spirit and determination.
RESULTS:
| Nikola Kliza | SILVER Patterns SILVER Sparring |
| William Brennan | SILVER Sparring |
| Mikey Fitzgibbon | SILVER Sparring |
| Harry Fowler | GOLD Sparring BRONZE Team Patterns |
| Saad Jaffery | GOLD Sparring BRONZE Team Patterns |
| Alan Johnson | SILVER Sparring BRONZE Team Patterns |
| Malika Nafees | GOLD Patterns GOLD Sparring BRONZE Team Patterns |
| Amelia Fowler | GOLD Team Patterns |
| Callum Edwards | GOLD Patterns SILVER Sparring GOLD Team Patterns |
| Connor Murphy | GOLD Team Patterns |
| Phil Southern | GOLD Sparring |