IT IS a very busy time for Quin Taekwon-do head coach Stephen Ryan as his Team Ireland members prepare for the European Championships in Spain next week and he reflects on his club’s success at last weekend’s Irish Cup in the University of Limerick (UL) Sports Arena.
Six of the club’s black belts will join a 60-strong Irish squad when they travel to La Nucia, Spain, for the long-awaited return to international competition. Experienced competitors Shane Tuite (-70kg senior sparring); James Tuite ( -68kg junior sparring); Alice Larkin (2nd Degree Patterns and –68kg senior sparring) and Luke Moriarty (-70kg senior sparring) will be joined by Aoibhin Copeland (- 55kg junior sparring) and David Larkin (1st Degree Patterns and –50kg junior sparring), who have been selected to the Irish team for the first time.
“It’s been great but challenging to be back training for the Euros with this group of athletes,” said Stephen, who is also Head Coach of the Irish Taekwon-do team and heavily involved with the Irish Taekwon-do Association. “We’ve been doing our best to train for several months within the restrictions and it’s really satisfying to be traveling for a tournament next week. I’m very proud of my students who train up to 5 times a week. They’re remarkably positive and so supportive of each other.”
The club’s members performed impressively at the recent Irish Cup, bringing back 12 Gold, six Silver and 16 Bronze medals. On Saturday last, Quin TKD athletes saw their hard work pay off with James Tuite competing at senior level for the first time. He won double Gold in sparring and 1st Degree Patterns and secured the position of best overall male. Alice Larkin, also making her debut at senior level, won Gold in sparring and Silver in 2nd Degree Patterns, while Teigan Hehir, Darren Higgins, David Larkin, Luke Nolan and Conall O’Donovan all won Gold in their respective sparring categories. Ella Casey achieved Silver in sparring, as did Béibhínn Corkery and Darragh Molloy. Lauren Fox won Silver in Special Technique. Bringing home the Bronze medals in sparring were Shane Tuite, Joanne Potter, Aoibhin Copeland, Tommy Brookes and Leyla O’Malley Cetinkaya, who also won Bronze in Special Technique.
“While I’m very pleased with these results and the evidence of the commitment to training they show, I’m also delighted to see our younger members compete,” Stephen said. “It can be daunting to take to the mats in a national competition and they did very well on the second day of the competition. We will go to Spain and give our best and then it’s back home for preparation for gradings and the Munster Championships next February. We never stop!”
Ella Sweeney won Gold for sparring and Bronze in patterns while Hannah Tuite and Adam Fox won Gold medals for sparring on the second day of the tournament. Adam Pegg won Gold in patterns. Aoife Corkery won Silver in sparring. Bronze medals in sparring went to Clara Flood, Finn Timmons, Yasemin O’Malley Cetinkaya and Colin Devitt. Finn Timmins, Shane Devitt and Adam Fox won Bronze in patterns.