Hi

Had a great weekend in Bournemouth although getting there took a bit longer than expected as the car broke down and we spent four hours in a lay-by outside of Oxford. The RAC turned up after two hours and decided the car needed a part and we eventually continued our journey. Still arrived in time to make the evening weigh-in and made -48Kg on target (47.9Kg) after travelling for 10 hours.

We missed the FA Cup final but we still had plenty of time for an evening meal and an early night. Sunday we even managed a lie-in and did not head to the venue until 10:00.

Once at the venue we were looking at having the last fights of the day if we made the finals. My first fight was not until 3:30 pm and my last fight would be around 7:00pm. I was fighting in two categories -48Kg and -51Kg, to give me a good run out and hopefully a decent number of fights.

First up was my sister Simone who fought at 1:00 pm some three hours after we arrived at the venue. Simone won her first fight 2-0 and was through to the final. It is the second time she has made a final of an Open but she was nervous. Simone had her final before any of us (Gav, Ben, Ryan and myself hadn’t even got anywhere near the ring). She was brilliant and end up winning 9-1 taking her first gold in an open competition.

Next up was Ben against Paul Glenn from Scorpion Taekwondo and after a close fight Paul won 8-6. I was up next at -48Kg against a player from BTS and won my first fight 2-0 against a lesser experienced player. Ryan was next and won his fight also to make the final.

I then had to wait about an hour to get back onto the mat to fight my -51Kg fight. My opponent was a lot taller but I managed to win comfortably 7-0 and felt sharp. It was not a great fight but I did enough to win comfortably. Then I had a wait of two hours and would then fight two finals within twenty minutes of each other (one the last fight of the day).

Gav was up and collected the gold medal, next was Ryan against a taller opponent and was unlucky not to win gold narrowly losing 5-3.

Onto my first final of the day, and after Simone’s win I was looking to win the third Chi gold medal of the day and make it a family double. So my -48Kg final started the opponent was a bit inexperienced and had a run in style which meant I had to counter attack. We had watched his earlier fight and saw he had the run in style and that he also left his head exposed when he ran in and I had decided to play to the head. After a narrow miss to the head after 15 seconds I caught him with two quick head shots and comfortably controlled the fight and the referee stopped the fight when I went 14-0 up.

So onto my final fight of the day and the -51Kg final, my opponent was a good player who has been around in the -51Kg category for a couple of years and was a bit older and had a considerable height advantage. I had watched his earlier fight with my coach (Graeme) and we decided it would be best to keep him moving and attack from the side as I would never get inside his leg reach attacking face on.

So the fight started and the first round was tight and the opponent had a good defence. I kept moving him and found an opening to go 1-0 up by the end of the round. The second round started and I had to be patient and not try and force the fight as I have done in other competitions this year and also keep up the work rate by looking to attack from the side. The opponent pressed on and I slipped to the side for another front kick to go 2-0 up. He continued to press forward and I attempted a jump reverse but did not land on my feet so the referee gives me a half point deduction (only a warning). Next he pressed forward and I caught him with a back kick to move to 4-0 in front and begin to relax. The opponent rushes forward and I score another point by moving to the side and kicking to the pad 5-0. I then get carless and look at the score board and think the match is ending so step out of the ring. The referee deducts another half point for going out of the ring and the score is 5-1. This gives the opponent a bit of hope and he decides to pressure me so I use my jump reverse a few times and very nearly connect. The round finally finished and I win 5-1 against a good player with a great deal of experience. So I had a great day and won my four fights with a score of 28 for and 1 against which was a couple of silly mistakes made by me that cost two half points.

But on the positive I had fights and played well and for the second year running won my catergory at the Southern Championships.

We ended up as eighth place time with only six fighters (including my double entry) so a really good day out. Next we had a long trip home which was uneventful and my arrived home just before midnight. So we had a brilliant weekend with both my sister and I winning gold medals. We met up with our friends as usual Masters Peter Adamson, Joe Brown, Micheal Gergiou and my good friend George Lee plus the many other people we meet at TKD events.

Tonight, I have been for a run with Scott and then to fight training at Ferryhill with Master Graeme. I will be training on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with my club. On Sunday I will be training with Sarah Stevenson in Manchester. Who once again (Sarah) did British sport proud by retaining her European Title. Well done Sarah and well done to Aaron Cook (Gold Medallist and European Champion at 18 years old, Bianca Waldren and Jade Jones who at 16 years old won a Bronze medal at the European Seniors). All the other GBR players played really well and were unlucky not to medal.