Twenty Two of South Dublin Taekwondo Clubs future stars took to the ring last Saturday at the Ayrfield Taekwondo Club ‘One to One’ friendly tournament. This mode of tournament is a friendly event where all athletes are paired off on the day with opponents best suited to their ability. With all athletes coming home with medals this was a great day for club development for both athletes & coaches. Some performances of note came from first timers; Eabha & Caoimhe DeBurca, identical twin sisters who came from SDTKD’s Taekwondo Tots Programme, also Bobby & Sydney Fowler had their first outing & impressed in their matches, and finally Tyler Waters had his first taste of competition. SDTKD also managed to focus on some coach development with members & future coaches getting some valuable ring time. Alan Nugent, Adam Nugent & David Phelan were all on hand to assist head Coach Robert Taaffe on the day, no more prouder than Adam who managed to coach his younger brothers Ben & Bobby through a succession of matches.

Results Below – See Email for Further Details.

Jack Woolley returned to Morocco for his fourth time in recent years to further his Olympic Ranking points for 2018. He hoped to re-accomplish his result of 2017 when he won gold in the largest most prestigious event in the African continent- the African Presidents Cup. Now in a higher weight category and with the event closer to Tokyo , entries came in from all corners of the world to try secure the double rankling points available. The division made for a tough test for Woolley. In the round of 32 he secured his ranking points by beating Zouhavr of Morocco 30-7 finishing the bout early by point gap. With a Moroccan in his chair (SDTKD International Coach and now Tallaght native Anas Belmaati) Jack was in secure hands where he went on to beat experienced Icelandic opposition M. Rafiei in the round of 16 by 23 points to 11. This led to an early clash with seed #1 Jesus Tortosa Cabrera of Spain, one of the most distinguished fighters in the World today. Jack settled for a 5th placing, with the Spaniard coming out on top 22-10. Jack took home 4.32 Olympic Ranking points to his 2018 collection. The event was the final stretch in a fortnight run that saw Woolley attend a training camp in Madrid, the Spanish Open in Alicante, returning to Madrid for some final prep before departing to Agadir, Morocco. Jack is now back in Dublin to continue his own preparations for the Senior Europeans in Russia in May and support his club while his team mates are at the Junior Worlds & Youth Olympic Qualifiers in Tunisia.