8th Junior World Championships - Full Report

Team UK travelled to Australia, to compete in the 8th Junior International Taekwon-Do Federation World Championships, which was held in Geelong, Melbourne from the 14th-16th of September. The England squad put in an amazing performance actually winning the championships for the first time, with a tally of 8 individual and 2 team gold medals!
The best competitors from all around the world came to represent their countries; some of the countries represented were Australia, Argentina, Canada, USA, Japan and Russia.

Six students of Master Wolf's Taekwon-Do Academies (MWTA) made the long journey down under. After many months of gruelling training under the instruction of Master Wolf and assistant coach Lucy Wolf, the hard work paid off! Master Wolf said that all six MWTA students pushed themselves to the limit and he could not be more proud.

Check our online Photo Gallery for pictures of the event.


Day 1: Thursday 14th September 2006 ...

After the opening ceremony the tournament commenced with the 1st to 3rd degree male and female patterns.
Jasmine Duggan at the age of 13 was one of the youngest competitors in the tournament and she gave an extremely professional performance in the 1st degree pattern section. Jasmine won through the rounds beating opponents from Australia, Canada and Germany. In the final she had a close match against the Argentinean representative, but Jasmine prevailed and won the gold in her first World Championships!

For 18-year old Nicholas Gardner this was his third World Championships. Nicholas was in the 3rd degree pattern section, which was England verses USA all the way! Nicholas won the gold, but with little time to celebrate, as he was straight back in for the sparring.
Nicholas was already the junior heavy weight champion after the last World Championships in Korea in 2004. He fought through tough rounds, meeting opponents from USA, Argentina and Canada, and this time he retained his title! Nick is now a two time World Champion at the ripe old age of 18!

Alan Bennett, age 15, was in the under 52Kg sparring section. He fought amazingly in his first round against his Australian opponent, but he just missed out on getting through to the semi-finals, in the next round against the USA.

Jasmine and her twin sister Jade both competed in the under 42Kg sparring division and showed great determination! The opponents the girls fought in their first round were from England and Canada - these two girls actually went on to win the silver and gold respectively. So not only did they have a huge weight disadvantage both giving away 10Kg, they also fought the two best girls in the first round! Jade and Jasmine definitely proved to be hot prospects to look out for in the future.


Day 2: Friday 15th September 2006 ...

On the second day Adam Gardner was up for the under 58Kg sparring category. At 16-years old this was his second shot at a World Championships. Adam shone through winning his division - an outstanding achievement, and with two more years still competing at junior level!

17-year old Mark Bennett, had a great match against the more experienced Canadian opponent. Like his brother Alan, this was Marks first appearance on the World scene, however the boys came away with a bronze each, won later in the team event.

The elimination rounds for the team pattern and sparring were also held on the second day.
Lucy Wolf coached the England girl's in the team pattern event. Drawn against Argentina in their first round, the England girl's performance quite literally stunned the audience! They won through to the semi-finals, which were to be held on the third day.


Day 3: Saturday 16th September 2006 ...

With the individual power, individual special technique and the remainder of the team events still to do, the final day of the tournament looked to be a busy one!

In individual power breaking Nicholas Gardner won his third gold medal. Due to this amazing medal tally, which also included medals later won in the team events, Nicholas received the award of best overall male competitor. This was Nick's last outing as a junior competitor and his performance in Australia was the culmination of an exceptional junior career.

In the team pattern event, the England girls beat Australia in the next round and they eventually took the silver in an extremely close final with Canada.

The coaches for the Team UK girl's squad were Gary Bradshaw, Daniel Lammin and Lucy Wolf. Overall the girl's team won gold in the team sparring, silver in the team pattern and silver in team special technique. As a squad the Team UK girls won an amazing tally of medals, including many individual gold's.
Lucy said, "It was a pleasure working with a group of such determined young ladies. Although I didn't get to know them all equally well, I still felt so proud of all the girls! Well done!"

The coaches for the Team UK boy's squad were Lee Hollingsworth and Johann de Silva. The boys also did exceptionally well. The team won gold in the special technique, silver in team sparring and a bronze in the team pattern.

The Team UK England squad won the award for best overall country, an achievement not attained previously, with a total of 8 individual and 2 team gold medals! MWTA would like to say well done to all the Team UK competitors; well done to the coaches for individual competitors; and well done to the team coaching staff including Master Ogborne, Mark Skyrme, Gary Bradshaw, Daniel Lammin and Lucy Wolf. Also thanks to the numerous ITF Masters who were present from the UK including Master Nicholls, Master Wolf, Master Harry, Master Hogan and Master Ogbourne.
Special thanks to Mr. Muleta for organizing and running the tournament.


Master Wolf said that the England squad did a great job and congratulations on a historic ITF win!
In closing Master Wolf and the MWTA members would like to extend their great appreciation and thanks to Mr. Jonathan Chapman of Channel Properties, without who's generous sponsorship, for some, this trip would not have been possible.

We look forward to the next World Championships, which are being held in England in 2007, for both senior and juniors.

Check our online Photo Gallery for pictures of the event.


MWTA Results

Nicholas Gardner
Gold - Sparring (Junior Male 70+kg)
Gold - 3rd Degree Pattern
Gold - Power Breaking
Gold - Team Special Technique (England Junior Male Team)
Silver - Team Sparring (England Junior Male Team)
Bronze - Team Pattern (England Junior Male Team)

Adam Gardner
Gold - Sparring (Junior Male -58Kg)

Jasmine Duggan
Gold - 1st Degree Pattern

Mark Bennett
Bronze - Team Sparring

Alan Bennett
Bronze - Team Sparring



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