Team Central produced incredible results at the Dutch Open International Championships in Eindhoven at the weekend (13th - 15th March).  It was the biggest tournament on the European circuit, with nearly two thousand competitors from over 70 countries.  As it was a G2 Olympic Ranking event the competition attracted all the big national teams and the standard of the players was very high.  Central Academy had a team of 7 players and 3 coaches.  In terms of international events, it turned out to be our most successful day ever.  With 2 bronze, 1 silver and Jordyn Smith becoming Dutch Open Champion the team produced 25% of all the GB medals achieved in the cadet and junior categories.

 

 

Jordyn Smith gave her most professional performances to date - to win 4 matches in a very strong division to claim her first Dutch Open Gold.  Jordyn had to use her vast experience to come from behind on a couple of occasions and then finished off in style with a tremendous 12 point gap victory against Serbia.  This event was part of the selection criteria for the GB Team  for the European and World Championships being held later this year.  Jordyn once again proved she is one of the best cadet female players in the world and put herself in a very strong position to be selected for this year’s majors.

 

 

 

Hassan Haider was in a division of 39 top quality players.  It took four really hard games to reach the final, where Hassan produced some fantastic Taekwondo.  He was desperately unlucky to go down 3-2 in one of the last matches of the day and certainly deserved to be crowned champion.  He had overcome a relentless Swede and a top class Russian in very high scoring and very exciting matches. However, a silver medal at such a prestigious event is a great achievement and, like Jordyn, Hassan is now favourite to be selected for his category.  He should be on his way to Latvia for the Junior Europeans in October.

 

 

 

Lauren McKinlay was flying the flag for Central in this division.  She was completely undaunted by the enormity of the competition and played her best Taekwondo so far.  She came through two tough matches scoring with back kicks and head shots and went out in a very tight semi final which could have gone either way.  A bronze medal in her first major European open is something she can be very proud of.

 

 

 

Tegan O’May moved into this category for the first time  We knew it was going to be difficult as she was giving away a couple of kilos and a great deal of height.  Sure enough her opponents were head and shoulders taller than her.  But Tegan has a tremendous fighting spirit and, after getting a bye to put her in the quarter finals, she took her opponent to golden point.  At the end of the 2 minute 4th round it was still tied and it went to referees superiority decision.  The tension was unbearable as we waited for the verdict - Tegan’s determination paid off as the referee declared her the winner and put her through to the medals.  Her semi final was a similar story - this time Tegan was unable to overcome her opponents height advantage.  A bronze medal in this category was well above expectations and a superb achievement.

 

 

Erin Shaw was in the same category on the other side of the draw.  This was not only Erin’s first outing in this division it was also her first international event.  She handled it with great maturity for an 11 year old and had a very exciting game against a much taller Serbian player.  There was only millimetres between conceding and scoring head shots and, after leading for a large proportion of the match, it stood at 5-5 with seconds left.  The slightest of contact on Erin’s chin from the long legs of the Serbian meant Erin bowed out in her first match but it had been a gallant effort.

 

 

Esme O’Donnell was also competing for the first time at a European open.  She used her cool, calm approach to great effect in her first 2 matches.  Incredibly she took out her first opponent from Poland with a 12-0 point gap finish and then did almost the same to her second opponent from Serbia, taking that game 9-0.  Her quarter final was a tough match against a much taller and experienced opponent but Esme made it go all the way to wire and ended up just narrowly missing out on a medal position, which she really did deserve after seeing off some top European opposition with such ease!

 

 

Kristian Kinnon was our only competitor in the seniors.  There were 93 players in his group!  He was drawn against a tall Canadian in his first match.  Once again the height thing proved to be too big an advantage and despite Kristian throwing some of the fastest and sharpest kicks around he bowed out to the long legs of Canada.

 

 

All in all it was one of the best and most successful trips in the club’s 21 year history.  The players have worked incredibly hard this year and the preparation has been second to none.  Coaches Master Bailey, Stuart Wright and Darren Smith gave the players their own individual training plans to work on and the fantastic results bear witness to the fact that the new Team Central set up is working.

 

The team are now preparing for the Spanish Open on 12th April and then the Academy will be taking a big team to the Nottingham Open Championships in early May.

 

Congratulations to the Dutch Open players and coaches on a fantastic job done!