Australia’s national junior and cadet teams have racked up an impressive medal haul at the 49th edition of the Dutch Open, with further Aussie entrants and senior CombatAUS athletes also amongst the winners.
The Aussie juniors and cadets captured eight bronze medals in Eindhoven, under the guidance of Head Coach Ali Khalil, Coach Ruth Hock and Team Manager Anita Tippet.
While not every athlete made the podium, it was an extremely successful tournament across the board, with the entire team putting in strong performances and gaining valuable international experience against elite competition.
Here’s how the Aussies fared at the Indoor Sportcentrum Eindhoven.
Ajsa Ramic (Global Martial Arts) won bronze after defeating France’s Lemaa Dhaouadi (via PTF 2:1) and Belgium’s Lela Mansouri (via PTF 2:0) in an impressive run to the semi-finals in the Female -52kg division. She was eventually defeated by the tournament’s gold medallist, Julie Mam of Cambodia.
Gabriella Blewitt (Spirit Taekwondo) won bronze after losing a close contest to Spain’s Jada Van Wijngaarden (silver) in the semi-finals of the Female -59kg division.
James Theofilas (Mozhdeh Martial Arts) secured bronze in the Male -48kg category, before falling to French silver medallist, Chahid Nacer Ait.
Corey Puopolo (Martial Fitness Australia) was edged out by the Male -63kg division’s gold medallist, Emre Cavusman, in a tight round of 16 contest via PTF 2:1.
Clementine Brown (Hall’s Taekwondo) won bronze in the Female -33kg after losing a technical semi final bout with Germany’s silver medallist, Emma Kahlhofer.
Lacie Gleeson (Hall’s Taekwondo) secured bronze with an impressive victory over Germany’s Sahara-Su Cosgun via PTF 2:0, before narrowly losing to the Female -41kg gold medallist, Oumaima Allassak (France) via PTF 2:1.
Peri Hitchen (One Taekwondo) was defeated in the round 16 by the Female -44kg division’s eventual gold medallist, Belgium’s Ema De Simone, via RSC.
Amarlie Evans (One Taekwondo) fought her way past Elif-Sude Dumlu (Germany) for bronze in the Female -59kg division, eventually losing to gold medallist Fatima Mendy (France), via PTF 2:0. Zahra Karaki (Global Martial Arts) also took bronze in the Female +59kg division, following her close loss to German gold medallist, Angelina Melzenbach, via PTF 2:1.
Lawson Knight (One Taekwondo) took home bronze in the Male -33kg division, after he was defeated in the semi finals by France’s gold medallist, Nelson Dedegbe, via PTF 2:0. Jack Orchard (Martial Arts Spirit) was narrowly defeated via PTF 2:1 in the round of 16 by the tournament’s gold medallist, Christos Bakalexis of Greece. Lukas Ingram (Global Martial Arts) was also eliminated in the round of 16 by a gold medallist, losing via PTF 2:0 to Italy’s Federico Ignazio Cavallaro.
The following junior athletes competed for One Taekwondo, under the guidance of coaches Sadhbh McCarthy and Mark Hitchen:
Tiarnagh Sweeney secured bronze with a win over the Netherlands’ Meysen Bousnane via PTF 2:0 en route to the semi finals in the Female -46kg division, before losing via PTF 2:0 to Germany’s silver medallist, Sara Oulad Ben Taimout.
Aikan Granier-Ameur lost a close quarter final against the Male -45kg division’s eventual gold medallist, Spain’s Adrian Davila Rodriguez, via PTF 2:1.
A number of junior and cadet athletes also competed for Global Martial Arts under Coach Tom Auger:
Pheonix Bobrowski (junior) was defeated via PTF 2:0 by France’s Male -55kg bronze medallist, Amine Boukarnia, in the round of 32. Mahdi Hodroj (junior) was also beaten by a bronze medallist in the round of 16, losing via PTF 2:0 to Germany’s Leon Ananda Kaudelka, in the male -68kg division.
Nathan Chau (cadet) lost a close round of 16 contest against Croatia’s Niko Reinic in the Male -49kg division, via PTF 2:1.
Three senior CombatAus athletes competed in Eindhoven and managed to bring two bronze medals home.
Liam Sweeney (One Taekwondo) fought his way to the semi finals in the men’s -80kg division, with victories over France’s Azizjan Tadjibaev and Kosovo’s Arber Bajra, in two close and entertaining contests (both via PTF 2:1). He finished with a bronze medal, following a defeat by RSC to Austria’s silver medallist Aleksandar Radojkovic.
Tyrone Staben (Adelaide Taekwondo Academy) also secured bronze in the men’s -87kg division with a victory via PTF 2:1 over Belgium’s Manuel Pollet. He was eventually defeated by Denmark’s Hassan Amer Ali via PTF 2:0.
Rebecca Murray (Edge Taekwondo) reached the quarter finals in the women’s -67kg division, with a win over Germany’s Julika Zimmerling via PTF 2:0, before losing to Germany’s gold medallist Vanessa Koerndl, via PTF 2:0.
Next up, Australia’s senior Taekwondo athletes will battle the world’s best as they fly the flag at the World Taekwondo (Senior) Championships from 13-17 November in Guadalajara, Mexico. For more information on the event, keep following our website and social media over the coming weeks.
It has been an action-packed start to 2024 for the Australian Taekwondo National Performance Pathways program and the tangible outcomes already appear promising.
Athletes kicked off the year in full force with a four-day training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Combat Centre – a multi-sport Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Canberra.
At the age of six, Amy Tierney – now the Owner and Head Instructor at Tierney’s Taekwondo Academy in NSW – discovered Taekwondo through a lucky break. Originally from Ingleburn in the south-west of Sydney, Tierney attempted to take up boxing at nearby Campbelltown PCYC, only to be told by an instructor that “girls don’t box”.
International Taekwondo events are set to return to Brisbane in 2024, with the World Taekwondo President's Cup (Oceania) and the Australian Open confirmed for September 18-22 at Nissan Arena. Open to the world's top black belts, athletes from World Taekwondo's 212 Member National Associations are invited to attend.
