Kiwis Celebrate Medals At World Champs
New Zealand’s Carl Van Roon is the hero of the 2011 ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships in Wellington after the 27-year-old won two gold medals in spectacular fashion.
Van Roon took away the gold medal in the special technique – high flying kick. His fifth consecutive world championship gold in a row in the event. The Aucklander finished ahead of Poland’s Piotr Pelka with Colin Adolfs(Germany) third.
Van Roon then became the first New Zealander to win a title in individual senior sparring. He won the title in the male heavy weight individual sparring. In the semifinals he despatched American Carlos Resende with an emphatic 4-0 victory showing plenty of aggression. However it was in the final against Ales Zemljic where he showed his true range of skills with some spectacular moves to again win 4-0 and take the gold medal.
“My high kick was basically a perfect score, but it was more satisfying and a relief than anything else. I didn’t let defending the title get to me, “ said Van Roon. “Winning the sparring was fantastic I worked for it and knew how to win it. I was able to pull off some moves in the final as it worked totally to plan.”
Van Roon is now confirmed as the overall male world grand champion. A title he already holds.
Also winning gold medals for the home nation was power-breaker, Luke Thompson(Auckland) who secured his third consecutive gold medal by winning the male individual power test. The 29-year-old school teacher won the event which combines a series of five breaks smashing of boards (two hand and three kicks) over rival Chance Rhodes(USA) and Charles Van Beelen(Australia).
Thompson has had thoughts of retirement on him mind, but after winning he admitted that perhaps there could be a hint of a comeback at some stage in the future.
“retirement has been on the cards for a while, but after doing this. I’ll just wait and see. What better way to finish….to go out on top,” said Thompson.
A newcomer to the senior world champs was Auckland teenager, Jeremy Hanna who is coached by another New Zealand teammate, Mark Trotter. Hanna who was the junior world champion in Argentina in 2009 won the senior title in the 3rd Dan Individual Patterns in Wellington beating Anderson Chan(USA) 3-1 in the final.
Also winning gold was Carolina Dillen in the senior female 1st dan individual patterns. The popular 27-year-old beat her Colombian rival, Andrea Talero in the final 5-0. Earlier in the day Dillen had won a silver medal in the sparring.
Competition continues on Saturday with junior team events commencing at 10am and expected to be completed by start 3pm. On Sunday competition starts at 10am with senior team events and pre-arranged sparring which should be completed by 2.30pm.
results from 2011 ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships, Wellington.
(New Zealand unless noted)
Senior Male 1st Dan Individual Patterns:
Semifinals:
Matias Ezequiel Bustamante(Argentina) bt Alexander Walter(Belgium) 5-0,
Christopher Broughton bt Kevin Fleeman(USA) 5-0.
Final:
Bustamante bt Broughton 3-2.
Senior Male 2nd Dan Individual Patterns:
Dane Canton bt Pascall Hirschi(Germany) 5-0,
Silvio David Gamboa(Argentina) bt Daniel Hallanger(Norway) 5-0,.
Final:
Gamboa bt Canton 3-0.
Senior Male 3rd Dan Individual Patterns:
Jeremy Hanna bt Hans Rombaut(Belgium)5-0,
Anderson Chan(USA) bt Lucas Martin Gadea Romero(Aregentina) 4-1,
Final:
Hanna bt Chan 3-1.
Senior Male 4-6 Dan Individual Patterns:
Jaroslaw Suska(Poland) bt Ala Haivala(Sweden) 5-0,
Stephen Ryan(Ireland) bt Andreas Jenstad(Norway) 2-1,
Final:
Suska bt Ryan 3-1.
Senior Female Micro Weight Individual Sparring:
Stasa Lubej(Slovenia) bt Cassandra Demers(Canada)3-0,
Marzanna Pawlik(Poland) bt Sheckenna Cunningham(Jamaica) 4-0,
Final:
Lubej bt Pawlik 2-1.
Senior Female Light Weight Individual Sparring:
Ilona Dziala(Poland) bt Nancy Soledad Olguin(Argentina) 4-0,
Carolina Dillen bt Sanna Often(Norway) 2-2 2-0(extra round),
Final:
Dziala bt Dillen 3-1.
Senior Female Light Weight Individual Sparring:
Cecilia Akesdotter(Sweden) bt Courtney Meleisa 2-1,
Joanna Paprocka(Poland) bt Silvana Marizza(Italy) 2-2 1-1(extra time) sudden death,
Final:
Adesdotter bt Paprocka 2-2 2-2(extra time) sudden death.
Senior Female Heavy Weight Individual Sparring:
Ekaterina Kozlachova(Russia) bt Patria Garelik(Argentina) 2-0,
Petr Dydiszko(Sweden) bt Amy Reeder 3-1,
Final:
Kozlachova bt Dydiszko 3-1.
Senior Female Hyper Weight Individual Sparring:
Aleksandra Nowak(Poland) bt Ana Coronel(Argentina) 3-0,
Lisa Dennis(England) bt Viviane Scheffel(Germany) 2-0,
Final:
Nowak bt Dennis 4-0.
Senior Female Specialty:
Ekaterina Kozlachkova(Russia) 1, Sandi Galpin 2, Brnadi Merritt(Canada) 3.
Senior Female 1st Dan Individual Patterns:
Carolina Dillen bt Nora Llinares Esteve(Spain) 5-0,
Andrea Talero(Colombia) bt Jasamin Karim(Germany) 3-2,
Final:
Dillen bt Talero 5-0.
Senior Male Heavy Weight Individual Sparring:
Carl Van Roon bt Carlos Rsende(USA) 4-0,
Ales Zemljic(Slovenia) bt Lukasz Sudak(Poland) 3-1,
Final:
Van Roon bt Zemljic 4-0.
Male special technique – high flying kick:
Carl Van Roon(New Zealand) 1, Piotr Pelka 2, Colin Adolfs(Germany) 3.
Male Individual Power Test:
Luke Thompson(New Zealand) 1, Chance Rhodes(USA) 2, Charles Van Beelen(Australia) 3.
Male Individual 3rd Dan Individual Patterns:
Jeremy Hanna(New Zealand) bt Han Rombaut(Belgium) 5-0
Anderson Chan(USA) bt Lucas Martin Gadea Romero(Argentina) 4-1,
Final:
Hanna bt Chan 3-1.
Medal table at completion of days competition:
New Zealand, 9 gold, 10 silver, 9 bronze, 1st place overall,
Argentina, 7g, 2s, 10b, 2,
Slovenia, 6g 3s, 1b, 3.