Congratulations to Ms Audrey Condon from Waterford for winning two Gold and a Silver at the World Veteran ITF Taekwon-Do Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Ms Condon won Gold in the silver class (40-49) -61kg Sparring, Gold in the Power Breaking and Silver in the 3rd Dan Patterns.

This was an amazing achievement for the former World Champion who 21 years ago won a Gold and Silver at the 1987 World Championships in Greece. It was made even more special for Ms Condon as accompanying her on the long trip to Uzbekistan was her Instructor Mr John Jacob 6th Degree and her former Coach Senior Master Francis Barrett 8th Degree both from Waterford who represented the RITA as Umpires. During her Gold Medal win in the Sparring Ms Condon was cheered on from the stands by Ms Valerie Keane 6th Degree and members of St Marks Taekwon-Do School.

Ms Condon with National Coach Mr Stephen Doyle 6th Degree started the competition with the 3rd Dan Patterns. After beating Australia in the semi-final she faced the local Uzbek competitor in the Final. Both showed excellent technique and it was very close but it was the Uzbekistan who got the result giving Ireland the Silver medal. Next up was the -61kg sparring. Once again Ms Condon faced an Uzbekistan competitor in the final after beating South Africa in the semi. It was a great display from Ms Condon who dominated both rounds of the Final to win the Gold. The power breaking event on the last day of the competition gave Ireland its second Gold with Ms Condon dominating once again.

There were over 500 competitors from 40 countries represented at the 8th Junior & 3rd Veteran World ITF Championships and the level of competition was very high. The event was also live on the National TV sports station. As usual the DPR Korea team dominated the Gold medal awards with some stunning performances but the highlight for the large crowds was the final of the Junior Male Team Sparring. After narrowly beating the Uzbekistan team in the quarter final and then Estonia in the semi, DPR Korea faced Russia in the Final. After drawing the first fight Russia lost the next two meaning they had to win the remaining two fights to force a playoff. With the locals creating a fantastic atmosphere cheering on Russia they did the impossible and won both fights. The final went to a playoff which after a display of great Taekwon-Do sparring the Russian just about deserved the win.

Slovakia will host the next Junior & Veteran World Championships in 2010 and it was announced that DPR Korea will host the World Adult Championships in 2011.

This years 4 Nations event will take place on Saturday 22nd November in Caerphilly, South Wales. The format this year will be similar to 2007 with the addition of a UKTA presentation ceremony. The event will be a black tie dinner dance and celebration of Grand Master Rhee's 70th birthday.

All Male Black Belts over 16 are invited to try out for the team of 6 which will represent the Republic of Ireland. This is a great chance to gain invaluable International experience before next years European and World Championships.

Click here for poster. Click here for Information.

The Pro-Taekwondo World Final One will be held on 13th of December 2008. in Zagreb, Croatia. The prize is $50,000 and the Final will be broadcast throughout the world. European elimination tournaments (winner gets the right to participate among best 8 in Zagreb) will be held in:

Maribor, Slovenia – first half of October (final date TBC)
Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria – November 15th, 2008.
St. Petersburg, Russia – second half of November 2008.

The eliminators are open to all adult male Black Belt Taekwon-Do practioners (+80kg). Any RITA members interested in competing please contact the National Coach.

Futher information on www.pro-taekwondo.com

The Current World -78kg Sparring Champion and the new -85kg European Champion Jan Mraček will be training with the Irish Squad. Jan is Captain of the Czech National team who are World and European Gold Medallists in Team Patterns. Accopanying Jan is Kateřina Čížková who is a member of the Czech female team who won Gold at the recent European Championships.

This is a great opportunity to train and spar with one of the best fighters in the World.

For more information contact the National Coach, Mr Stephen Doyle 6th Degree. Email coach@rita-itf.org or phone 087-6986491

During the summer Selection for the Republic of Ireland Male team will begin for the Annual 4 Nations Challenge. The event will take place in the UK in November. This year it is hoped that a Senior Female and Junior Male/Female team will compete in a friendly against a UK select or one of the UK Nations. All RITA Black Belts members are invited to attend squad training to be considered for the teams.

For more information contact the National Coach, Mr Stephen Doyle 6th Degree. Email coach@rita-itf.org or phone 087-6986491

Congratulations to Ms Audrey Condon (centre) who has been chosen to represent Ireland at the 3rd Veteran World Championships that will take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 17th to 21st September 2008. Ms Condon 3rd Degree Black Belt won Gold and Silver at the 1987 World Championships. She will be competing in Sparring, Patterns and Breaking events.

Seen here in the photo with members of the Senior and Junior squad and Czech National team members Jan Mracek and Katerina Cizkova at a recent training session in Athlone.

For more information please visit the Official Website or click here for information pack. (Word)

Congratulations to David Freeman from St Marks who won a Silver medal in -57kg Sparring at the recent European Championships in Croatia. This was a great achievement as he dislocated his shoulder during the semi-final and the doctors did not want him to continue. Though in great pain he had to spar an extra time against his Greek opponent and won comfortably in the end. Unfortunately Mr Freeman was unable to contest the final due to doctors orders which meant Russia got the Gold. He was unlucky to lose out to Russia in the quarter finals of the 1st Dan Patterns. The judges gave a draw so it went to a play off pattern which the Russian won. He also got through to the final round in Special Technique and finished in the top ten.

Martin Mahoney from Galway had no favours in the -64kg sparring. After dropping from his normal -71kg section he got the Ukrainian World Champion in the 1st round. In a competitive spar the Ukrainians experience gave him the edge and Mr Mahoney lost out. In the power event he came 10th which was a very creditable result.

The RITA would like to congratulate both our competitors who performed so well and also to our Umpires Senior Master Barrett, Master Howard and Mr O'Donnell who showed why Ireland has some of the best Umpires in the ITF.

With 700 representatives from 31 countries this was the largest European Championships so far and the competition was of a very high standard. The next European Championships will be held in Slovenia during April 2009 and for the first time will have a Veterans division.

Full results can be found on the Official Website

Congratulations to the Irish Squad who won Silver and Bronze medals at the European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. David Freeman repeated his Silver medal in the -57kg Sparring while the Male Team of Adam Fox, Leon McSherry, Mark Jordan, Joe Gill, Martin Mahoney and David Freeman won Bronze in the Team Patterns.

Click here for some photos.

RITA Instructors and Students can now view the TKD Supplies stock online. Click here to see our latest prices and stock.