It was a great day at NSW State Championships held at the Netball Central, Sydney Olympic Park on 8 April 2018 with our Team Taya athletes collectively bringing home a tally of 16 medals: 11 Golds (9 in sparring, 2 in poomsae), 4 Silvers (3 in sparring, 1 poomsae), 1 Bronze in sparring.
Notable performances were Sofia Querubin who won 16 points in the first 12 seconds in the first round with opponent's coach withdrawing player from the match, Kiara Fleming taking up challenge in cadets division winning by gap score of 22-2 over opponent who is three years older, Chelsea Gomez winning by gap score of 26-6 and Shreyas Gurelli experiencing head kick for the first time in juniors blue belt match winning first match with score of 22-10 and finals match in nail biting finish at score of 27-24.
Congratulations to Aaditya Kadam for his strong performances at his first Australian Junior Team Selections held at the AIS Canberra last 10 February 2010 winning the preliminary round against an older opponent with a score of 18-9 and settled for Silver Medal with a score of 17-22 in the final match. Aaditya has travelled to Europe as a member of the Australian Junior Team and competed at the Dutch Open in Eindhoven, Netherlands which served as the final qualifying event for selection to the Australian Junior Team for the European President's Cup in Athens, Greece on 25-29 April 2018. Aaditya also travelled to Lommel, Belgium and competed at the Belgium Open.
It is with pride and joy to have two of our developing athletes Junior under 45 kgs Aaditya Kadam and Cadet under 41 kgs Ysabella Querubin travel to Europe to compete at the Dutch Open held in Eindhoven, Netherlands from March 10-11 and Belgium Open held in Lommel, Belgium from March 17-18, 2018.
They both fought very well against more experienced opponents at the Dutch Open. Aaditya was a member of the Australian Junior Team following his Silver Medal result at the National Team Selections in February. Aaditya just fell short with a score of 21-23 against Netherlands and could have won the preliminary round if not for two gamgeoms in the first round and lapses in the second round but had a strong finish on the third round. The Dutch Open was the Qualifying Event for the Australian Junior Team for the European President's Cup and requires a Podium Result or Quarter Finals finish to be eligible.
Ysabella started strong against Spain but found the one minute three rounds very quick to execute her game plan and finished with a score of 5-9. The experience they gained and lessons learned will assist them in their preparation for the Belgium Open next weekend.
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Our Team Taya Athletes Aaditya Kadam (Junior under 45 kgs) and Ysabella Querubin (Cadet under 41 kgs) fought hard and lost to experienced opponents at the Belgium Open. Aaditya lost to the eventual Gold Medallist from Belarus with a score of 1-26 and Ysabella lost to the Quarter Finalist from France with a score of 3-15. This experience has given them significant insights into high international taekwondo competition standards and should assist with their further growth and maturity as developing elite athletes.
Congratulations to Team Taya for a strong performance at the last NSW State Championships held on 19 November 2017 bringing home a total of 16 medals:
Sparring - 10 Golds, 2 Silvers, 2 Bronzes
Poomsae - 1 Gold, 1 Silver
Notable performances are our three black belt cadets Connor Fleming, Aaditya Kadam and Ysabella Querubin winning in significant point gaps and executing good techniques and our sparring double gold medalists Shreyas Gurelli and Chelsea Gomez (Not in photo - Ayaan Shetty).
Well done Team Taya!!!
