A senior National Poomsae team of eight athletes and two coaches from Australian Taekwondo will contest the World Poomsae Open Challenge in Muju, Korea, from November 3-5.
The competition, which was first introduced in 2021 as an online event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will see over 300 athletes from 20 countries contesting for medals and prize money in the first-time live event.
Australia has had previous success in World Poomsae Open Challenge events, with gold medals having been won by Barry Jordan NSW/ACT, Bronwyn Butterworth VIC and Carmela Hartnett WA. The group of senior athletes were selected to the National Team, based on results from the Australian Open/Oceania Open and Oceania Presidents Cup held in Brisbane earlier in the year.
The 2023 World Poomsae Open Challenge team will see the following athletes represent Australia.
O65 Female Bronwyn Butterworth – Melbourne Taekwondo Centre (VIC)
U65 Female Sylvia Chiang – Schembris Taekwondo (VIC)
U60 Female Carmela Hartnett – Taekwondo Oh Do Kwan (WA)
U50 Female Kate Hodgen – Lee’s Taekwondo (ACT)
U30 Female Tayla Eckley – City West Taekwondo (VIC)
O65 Male Barry Jordan – Eclipse Taekwondo (NSW)
U Male 65 Chiang Cheuk Hung - Schembris Taekwondo (VIC)
U40 Male Choi Min Sueng – Songs Taekwondo (VIC)
Head Coach: Ross Hartnett - Taekwondo Oh Do Kwan (WA)
Coach: Yukyung Song – Songs Taekwondo (VIC)
Australian Taekwondo wishes the team all the best for the competition.
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.
