17th Asian Championships - Thailand, Bangkok

Since the formation of the new Oceania region in taekwondo, Australia can no longer compete in the Asian Championships competition. However this year, as of yesterday, Australia has been specially invited to compete in the middle and heavy weight divisions only. This is the 17th Asian Championships competition and it will be held in Thailand, Bangkok from the 21st-23rd of April. I would have loved to have fought and improved upon my 2002 performance where I obtained a silver, however my division was not selected. I am none the less more than happy to have been given the opportunity to attend, watch and video tape international opponents. The Asian Championships is a strong competition and I wish all aussie athletes fighting the best of luck. The team going away is as follows:

Females
Middle: Katrina Iacobbuci (67-72kgs)
Heavy: Amy Ash (72kgs+)

Males
Middle: Adam Corrigan(78-84kgs)
Heavy: Jake Ryan(84+kgs)

Support Athletes/Observers
Light: Tina Morgan (59-63kgs)
Light: Burak Hasan (67-72kgs)

Coaches
Head Coach: Daniel Trenton
Ass Coach: TaeHo Um

Doctor
Massuer: Ronnie Branca

draws and results can be accessed at: http://www.thaitkdasso.org/news/Asianchampionships2006.html
After this competition we will go straight to Korea for a training camp for 2 weeks.

When the Day turned to Night...

I am still to report on what happened on the 29th March at approximately 1.54pm in Antalya, Turkey. By luck we happened to be located on the exact path that the moon was going to cover the sun - ie. a total eclipse. Bahri, myself and some friends drove 1 hour to a city called Manavgat to watch the event with thousand of tourists. It was an unbelievable sight seeing the day suddenly turn into night and the stars come into full view. We had to wear these wierd but funky sunglasses to look at the sun before the total eclipse otherwise our eyes would be exposed to dangerous radiation. I'm thankful to have been able to experience this as I don't think i'll be around in 70 years to see another one. ...Unfortunately the photos i took didnt turn out so great but here is what I have.

GOLD! --- BELGIUM OPEN CHAMPION

I competed on the first day of the competition held in Herentals, Belgium in the light weight category (-63kgs).The total competition consisted of 778 competitors with national teams from Venezuela, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Brazil, Sweden, Argentina, Peru, Ukraine, Austria, Poland and more.

I had five fights and below is a detailed report on how it all went. GOLD GOLD GOLD!

1 = SWITZERLAND
Score: Australia 8 – Swiss 2(-1)

This fight was full of surprises. I had video footage of this player from the Dutch Open so I sort of knew the game plan she had. Once I was out there I was able to control the match and score points on her in each round. Perhaps I was a bit rusty in the first round but by the last I had seemed to settle in. Unfortunately not all fights are with fair play and the frustration of the Swiss girl was taken out on my face when she punched it in round 3. It earned her an immediate full one point penalty and left my poor teeth partly chipped…(CALL A DENTIST!) I guess a little aggression goes along way and I kicked her in the head twice that round, one right on the buzzer to make it 8-1.

2 = BELGIUM
Score: Australia 3 – Belgium 0

There isn’t all that much to report on this fight. I felt I held back a bit on this fight and could have really unleashed some awesome taekwondo (a flash back to the Dutch open). But I felt in control the whole time, stronger than the other player and scored the points where it counted.

3 = FRANCE
Score: Australia 8(-1) – France 6(-1)

Well I took one look at this girl and went, yup I’m going to kick your butt no problem! After-all she was shorter than me and alot stockier. But then we both got into the ring and it was a bit of a different story from round to round. 3-1 ten seconds prior to the end of the first round to France!!!!!OMG! …But never fear the head kicks were here, or there I should say and at the end of round one the scores were leveled 3-3. The same went on round by round, she would score and I would kick her in the head. I kicked her 4 times in the head and 3 of them scored.

4 = CROATIA
Score: Australia 10 – Croatia 9

To keep it short and simple. My mind didn’t want to play safe this fight, I wanted to win it so much that it ended up being action packed and nerve racking for others to watch. This fight went to a sudden death situation as scores were level, 9-9, at the end of the third. I have been in this situation a few times before and I didnt want to leave anything to chance. That day, my little book on success my mum gave me read, " Do it right the first time" and thats exactly what I went out and did. I scored a point 30 secs in without Croatia even flinching. It was a sweet victory against Ivana as there was no doubt who scored the golden 'kick'.

5 = GERMANY
Score: Australia 8(-1) – Germany 1

Even though the scores don’t show it, this was actually my hardest fight and most exciting also. I had never fought this German National Team player (Helena Fromm) before but I did see her win last years Korean Open in the division below mine, so I knew it was going to be a tough match. I didn’t lose focus or give it up after she scored a quick point. I worked out my distance to fight her and tactics to win the points and leveled the scores 1-1 at the end of the first round.
The fight started to take shape in the second round after I scored the following two points. Even though I was up I didn’t once underestimate her as a player and kept my head on the whole game, right down to the very last second.

Both the semi final and final were rewarding fights. They were fights that have rekindled my love for fighting and fights that I am so pleased to have won. Alhumdulliah

Podium Standings
1 Morgan, Tina, AUSTRALIA
2 Fromm, Helena, GERMANY
3 Jazbec, Ivana, CROATIA
3 Kusanic, Josipa, CROATIA

Bahri and I

Here are some of the latest pictures of Bahri and I. The first,with a late bday cake that was totally demolished and the second is of us about to go riding on motorbikes.

There is only a week left before my next competition held in Herentals Brussels. This time Im planning to 'kick' MORE and just leave everything I have out in the ring. I am entered in both the 63kg and 67kg divisions which compete on seperate days so there is plenty of competition waiting for me.

Final Day Dutch Open

Sorry to not have updated lately, Ive been travelling through Brussels and have had some decent training days in Turkey since the competition.

An update on what happened at the last comp.

I fought Mexican, Edna Diaz first fight. She is the current World champ and now winner of the Dutch open following my defeat against her 5-3. The match was close all the way. Going into the third round it was 2-2 however an exchange of kicks saw her ontop and it left me to chase one back. It was very dissapointing to have lost this match because I did feel in full control and felt alot stronger than her in the ring. I never once thought I was going to lose the match, and now having done so just makes me sqirm inside! It just makes me realise that I need to attend to my mental strength to get me through each fight,believe in every kick I posses and just let it all come out. FIGHT TINA FIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 1 Dutch Open

Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi oi oi…. Amy and I are now back at the hotel chilling out before our fights tomorrow. We weighed in yesterday after waiting around for such a long time…I was 61kgs can you all believe! WOW feels great to be so light again! It was good to catch up with some other athletes there and seeing people has really got us geared up for the competition. We both just want to get out there and kick some butt!
After the weigh in the Aussie team decided to go out for dinner, so we headed to the city and entered the first Italian restaurant we could see. Most of us ordered pizzas which came out as one big flat piece of dough! Notice the pic! The competition today has been fairly slow. There are so many juniors and seniors to get through I don’t think they will finish till at least 10pm tonight. We were at the comp all morning and most the afternoon and only got to see Jake and Kylie’s first fight. They both won. Jake beat USA and Kylie beat Canada 6-1. Kylie faces the former world champ next, Bridget from Spain. Each division is PACKED, we noticed the males 67kgs division had five pages of athletes….CRAZY!!!!!

For all results please see http://www.tkd-dutchopen.nl/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LOVE, BAHRI!!!!!!!!!!!!
ASKIM SENI COK SEVIYORUM

Dutch Open

Heres a few pics that keep you posted. Sorry I dont have a long time to write at this stage as we are off to weigh in. It is minus 2 degrees here and we are all freezing but are pumped for the comp on the weekend! Will keep you updated on results.

Europe Trip Training Campaign

IM back in Melbourne and have been for 2 weeks. IN the time Ive been here, I have trained every Mon, Wed, Thu and Sun morning and Mon through to Friday nights. Its been intense intense intense! I guess the bruises are there to show you that! Sorry it couldnt have looked a bit better for viewing, but it does give you an insight into some of the things my body goes through.

In one week exactly I will be on my way to the Dutch Open, in Eindhoven Netherlands. Im expecting fierce competition there as the players list represents another world championships. I'll be fighting in the 59-63 category, which means I'll be fighting a faster game to what im used to but but I do feel it'll be more suited for my body structure. After this competition, it is onto the Belgium Open a week later with Amy Ash.

The team for this competition from Australia is as follows:

Females
Fly: Kylie Treadwell (47-51kg)
Bantam: Bernie Branca (51-55kg)
Light: Tina Morgan (59-63kg)
Middle: Amy Ash (67-72kg)

Males
Bantam: Safwan Kalil (58-62kg)
Light: Burak Hassan (67-72kg)
Welter: Daniel Jukic (72-78kg)
Heavy: Jake Ryan (84+ kg)

Coaches
1Coach: Daniel Trenton
2Coach: Warren Hanson