SILVER FOR MY MAN!

BAHRI WON SILVER AT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!

He had a total of five fights, overcoming:

1) Russian = Evgeny Mikushin (4-2)
2) Bosnian = Zarko Mikulic (4-0) Zarko is also an Australian Taekwondo Athlete
3) Netherlands = Patrick Stevens (5-1)
4) Slovenia = Tomaz Zakrajzek (6-2)

Unfortunately he lost the final to Spain's Jon Garcia in a sudden death situation (2-2). None the less silver is an amazing achievement and I AM SOOOOO HAPPY FOR HIM! Thank God - alhumdulliah.

Sadly his sister was not able to produce the same results and retain her championship title. Azize went down in the quarter finals (also in a sudden death situation) to the eventual bronze medallist from Sweden, Lie Kylborne. Since this is also my WTF division I have taken note of the winners. The results are as follows:

Senior female -63kgs

1 = Spain, Muriel Bujalance
2 = Germany, Helena Fromm
3 = Ukraine, Olga Cherkun
3 = Sweden, Lie Kylborne

ALSO:
Senior female -67KGS

1 = Turkey, Sibel Guler
2 = France, Gwladys Epangue
3 = Sweden, Carolin Persson
3 = Norway, Nina Solheim

Anyways its back to the track for us today!!!!! Rain hail or shine....!

WORLD CUP SELECTIONS (-68KGS)

Its been about a month since I last wrote, but to tell you the truth not much has happened other than : training, studying, waking up early for morning sessions and...da da da....I havent eaten a single chip in ONE WHOLE MONTH!!! I have made a promise with someone special (my mum) not to have another chip for the rest of the year.....and i plan to keep it. The lack of fats clogging my arteries should enhance my performance...well so they say:):):)...So now thats no chips, no coke....so what can be next...?

I'm still in the preparatory stage for the World Cup Selections. They are to be held on the 24th June in Melbourne. There will be new divisions in place for this selection, and my division will now range from 61kgs to 68kgs. Having finished a load of assignments my mind feels fresh and ready to give it my all!

4 Weeks to goooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUICK NOTE: My boyfriend and his sister fight this weekend in the European Champs!!! So Im wishing both of them the very best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They have worked extremely hard for this and deserve success. Soooooooooo here's a cheer for TURKIYE!

Results + Korea

Korea retains its number one position in the Asian Region. All results, team rankings, draws and follow up of the comp can be found at World Taekwondo Federation website and or Thailand Taekwondo Fed sites below:

THAILAND FULL RESULTS/DRAWS

WTF RESULTS + FOLLOW UP

Whilst we started the competition strong, it was a sad ending to such a sweet start. For myself I feel like I still have alot of work I need to do, and whilst I would love to reflect on this comp with you, I will not at the present time for personal reasons.

We are in Korea at the moment in a training camp. So far we have sparred at the NationAl Korean University, Kyung Hee Uni and Yongin Uni. These are the three top taekwondo universities in Korea in which most of their national team athletes come from. I haver been kicked in the head ....too many times to count, but have also stood my ground and given a few back also. This is my first period of training in lead up to World Cup selections in June - and god knows I need it.

Australia wins Silver DAY 1: Adam Corrigan

The first day of competition was held yesterday and Adam Corrigan won Australia a silver medal. Adam overcame Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Vietnam to progress to the final, however, fell short against the eventual winner from Kazakhstan. Adam is pictured below, along with (from left) Taeho Uhm, Mr Kwak (Taekwondo Australia President), Daniel Trenton, Ridvan Manav and Ronnie Branca.

The only other Aussie to compete yesterday was Katrina Iacobbucci. It is unfortunate for her that she could not progress to the medal standings having lost a tough match against China first fight by a mere 2 points. Katrina is pictured right of myself during the opening ceremony.

Day 3 to come

NOW FIGHTING ASIAN CHAMPS!!!

With communication between Australian officials and the organization committee over here in Thailand, I am fortunate enough to be allowed to contest the Asian Championships. It is based on the provision that I contest the welter weight division (63-67kgs), which is one up from my WTF weight. Without a doubt, I am more than thrilled to have the chance to compete!!!!!!!!!!

The Australian team schedule is below. The competition starts as of tomorrow (Friday) which is day one and concludes on day 3, Sunday the 23rd of April. I hope to post results on the days events from Aus soon.

DAY 1
Middle: Katrina and Adam

DAY 3
Welter: Tina and Burak
Heavy: Amy and Jake

THAILAND: The weather here in Thailand is hot and humid with temperatures ranging from 30-36 degrees. Everything here is disgustingly cheap to buy! Amy and I were stunned at how much our 10 minute taxi ride cost us - $2 AUS, and our 9 bottles of water plus a coconut juice were only $3! We have witnessed mass exercise street gatherings and ventured out for some local market shopping. Although we haven’t mastered the art of bartering, the prices are good enough to settle on the first offer. Whilst this country possesses many beauties of its own, we are reminded daily of how lucky we are to have been raised in Australia.

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