Taekwondo emerge victorious for second year running
As the hosts of the third Imperial College Open Taekwondo Competition, the club secured their second victory in a row
The 10th anniversary of the Imperial College Taekwondo society got off to an explosive start over this past weekend, with the hosting of the third annual Imperial College Open Taekwondo Competition.
The competition has grown at an incredible rate since its inception in 2012, this year attracting upwards of 230 competitors from 31 universities across the United Kingdom.
This represents the most substantial increase in competition turnout so far, and solidifies the Imperial College Open as the second largest student Taekwondo competition in the country, and the largest such competition planned and run by university students.
The massive increase in turnout and scale has provided a significant challenge for members of the Imperial College Taekwondo team, many of whom acted as volunteers and helpers, in addition to taking part in the competition itself.
Despite these considerable challenges, Imperial College Taekwondo once again emerged from the competition victorious, winning a total of 23 medals (8 Gold, 4 Silver, 11 Bronze) from a pool of 29 fighters, narrowly defeating the substantially larger 37 strong University College London Taekwondo team and ensuring that the ‘Imperial Award’ for highest cumulative medal score remains at Imperial College for the second year running.
For the past three years, the Imperial College Open has grown at an increasing rate, and is likely to continue to grow in the future.
The organisational challenges of such a competition are immense and could not be possible without the incredible degree of support received from the Taekwondo community. Imperial College Taekwondo would therefore like to thank Master Ali Abdoli in addition to Stephen Butlin, Danut Varzani, Tameem Al-Kubati and Maniesha Kaur for their assistance in officiating the fights.
We would also like to thank Master Reza Saberi, Estefania Palacios, and Christopher Dancel for their instruction and coaching, both on the day and during the lead-up to the competition itself.
Finally we would like to thank the BSTF for their support in the organisation of the Imperial College Open; the ESSA for their sponsorship; and Image Scotland for their provision of materials and clothing for the competition.
Imperial College Taekwondo hopes to build on the success of the past three years, with a bigger and better competitions in future.
Imperial College Taekwondo trains on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 20:00 to 22:00. Sessions are held in the Union Gym, 3rd floor, Beit Quad.
