GTI SOUTHERN TAEKWONDO OPEN 2004
This year the venue for the Southern Open Championships was relocated
to Tewkesbury. Due to the great support & the large number of entrants
this year, the organisers are looking for another, larger, venue for
the 2005 championships. The competition was well supported by the host
association, the GTI, as well as contingents from WMST, AIMAA, SWIFT,
FSMA, TAGB, Bromyard TKD & Evolution.
During the morning a halt was called to the proceedings to present the
awards for the “Competitors of the Year” which ran throughout the
competition calendar last year. The presentations for junior patterns
were made first; M Bradfield (boys) & H Nalepa (girls) were the
recipients. The adult patterns top competitors were claimed by J
Kessler (men) & S Nash (ladies), the awards were then presented to the
sparring category winners. A second award went to M Bradfield & the
girl’s award was picked up by L Mitty. F Lane took the ladies fighter
of the year & finally, the men’s award was presented to joint winners,
T Chow & T Smith.
Consistent with the recent tournaments, the quality of the patterns
divisions throughout all the categories was very high. Some of the
juniors’ performances were exceptional & there were some strong
patterns on show in the yellow & green belt categories. P Griffin (GTI
Wells) gave a very sharp demonstration of Joong Gun, showing
great power & precision. In the ladies red belts, V Wilkinson (GTI
Worcester) shook the room with her powerful & loud kihap at the
end of her performance of Hwa-Rang. Wilkinson’s demonstration
of this pattern just oozed power & strength & the kihap made
sure every body in the room took notice!
In the black belt divisions the juniors continued & improved on the
standards set by the coloured belts. All the competitors were very
well disciplined & the patterns were performed excellently, with
Ge-Baek being a popular choice of pattern. M Bradfield (GTI
Tewkesbury) & L Fendt (GTI Gloucester) took the top spots in their
relative categories. The adults built on this with some very technical
patterns being demonstrated. In the ladies patterns there was a clear
1-2-3 verdict with S Nash (GTI Swindon) taking the gold from rival T
Cox (GTI Glos), however, the mens category was not so clearly defined
with a play-off being fought over for 3rd place. Talented
technician, F Miller (Evolution) performed a very strong Choi Young
to win his division.
G Cole (GTI Shrewsbury) put up a great fight against her opponent, K
Wynne (GTI Tewks) in the final of the blue/red middleweight girls.
Both fighters were determined & used some good attacking combinations
to vie for the title. Cole managed to gain the edge & she walked away
with the trophy. In the yellow middleweight boys final, two brothers
fought it out. T Mcleod (GTI Ledbury) used back kicks & spinning axe
kicks which were finished off with some nice hand techniques. W Mcleod
fought back admirably but to no avail, leaving his brother to take
home the larger piece of silverware.
The boys blue belt lightweights had within its ranks some very
competent fighters. All of the competitors were keen to score points,
which resulted in some fast flurries & exchanges between them. D Slade
(WMST) threw some great reverse turning kicks to pick off the points &
then finished the attack off with hand blitzes or reaching in with
side kicks. Despite some tough competition, Slade worked hard to earn
himself the gold. M Hartell (WMST) used a series of consecutive
turning kicks picking off his opponent (in the heavyweight yellow boys
final), racking up an early lead & despite his opponents good footwork
& counter-attacks he had a convincing win. There was more action in
the boys blue belt middleweights in the final between J Cockburn (GTI
Telford) & A Hendry (GTI Wells). Hendry kept up a good work-rate &
drove in combinations of sidekicks & hands, but he was picked off by
Cockburn’s combinations. Both fighters kept the pressure on but the
final decision eventually went to Cockburn.
The black belt sparring divisions further reinforced the excellent
standard of these talented competitors. L Fendt (GTI Glos) took a 2nd
gold in her clash with fellow club-mate H Nalepa. The bout started off
with both fighters seemingly equally matched, both used consecutive
kicking & good use of hand techniques reaching in & scoring points
before retreating quickly. Nalepa used some good hooking kicks &
reverse turning kicks, but these were quickly countered by Fendt’s
fast hands & feet, which was enough to secure her win. The ladies
lightweights saw S Nash (GTI Swindon) dominate her division by using
good footwork & extension of the hips to reach in & score with a
succession of side kicks & hand combinations. In the final, a good
level of flexibility allowed Nash to chamber over her opponent’s
kicks. Despite some very quick spinning kicks, K Holmes (GTI Derby),
could not win over Nash’s experience. F Lane (GTI Glos) had a tough
battle against a very determined V Wilkinson (GTI Worc). Lane’s side
kicks fell short of their targets & cost her a number of points as
Wilkinson drove forward & countered her opponent with unprecedented
accuracy to secure a further 1st place trophy.
In the under 18 male divisions, L Hall (GTI Worc) stamped his mark on
the competition circuit, returning after a training break,
demonstrating some superior kicking skills & put on a show of what a
very adaptable & fluid fighter he is. A very close semi-final between
Hall & M Bradfield (GTI Tewks) saw both fighters really go for bust;
both throwing some fine spinning kicks, but a lovely side kick to the
chin of Bradfield edged Hall into the lead & all corners awarded the
fight in his favour. The 3rd place play-off between B
England (GTI Tewks) & M Bradfield was a spectacular bout. England has
had a great improvement in form recently & looked very sharp,
unfortunately it was not to be his day losing out to Bradfield after a
great “boot-match”, which saw a brilliantly executed jump side to the
head from Bradfield. The bout ended in a draw, followed by a further
draw after another time extension. It was perseverance that won
through for Bradfield who pressured England, who lost a vital point
for travelling out of the area, which cost him the fight.
The final of the boys category was between J Chow (GTI Cheltenham) & L
Hall. Chow fought hard, driving in kicks whilst Hall replied by
pressuring his opponent with some fast, blitzing hand combinations. A
sudden spinning hook kick which worked through the guard of Chow gave
Hall a 3 point advantage as both fighters kept up a spectacular pace.
Towards the end of the bout, both competitors started to tire, but
Hall was able to keep Chow’s legs closed down & scored with a number
of hand techniques that was to eventually lead to Chow’s defeat.
The following competitors were talented enough to win both their
respective sparring & patterns divisions. These were; E Clutterbuck
(GTI Hucclecote), L Fendt (GTI Gloucester), A Holdsworth (Evolution),
S Nash (GTI Swindon), A Rowe (GTI Truro) & V Wilkinson (GTI
Worcester). A final note of recognition must go to the Chestergreen
club who won all three medal positions in the boys yellow belt
lightweight division.
For further
information on the GTI & its Open tournaments, which are held
throughout the year, please contact the Chairman, Mr Clive Harrison on
01531 640187 or by e-mail at chairman@gti-taekwondo.com .More
information can be found at the official website at
www.gti-taekwondo.com
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