Triumphant return for Taekwondo champions
Arran can now boast being home to three European Taekwondo champions after welcoming home the martial arts masters who competed at the International Taekwondo Federation European Championships held at Woking, England earlier this month
Part of the Scotland team at the international event were father and son Dariusz, 33 and Patryk Gwizdowski, 12, along with 16-year-old Fireun Hunter, all from Whiting Bay, who had previously gone through qualifying stages at club and Scottish levels to be part of the team.
Fireun, who took gold at the Scottish Championships at Grangemouth during June, went to the European Championships as Scottish champion in his category. The first day of the European Championships, which started with the black belt category, saw both Dariusz and Patryk taking part. Dariusz easily took gold in the special techniques category and went on to win two more gold medals in other categories while Patryk took bronze in two different disciplines.
The second day was for the colour belts and Fireun Hunter was expected to do well in the sparring ring. He did not disappoint, taking gold at his level and going on to take an impressive silver in a category five levels above his current grade. He also continued his medal count with a gold in the second of only two categories open to colour belts.
Arran Taekwondo instructor John Divine said: ‘All in all, an impressive performance by these boys and the rest of the team they travelled with. We as a club are buoyed by these achievements which are the best to date in our relatively short existence.
‘All three have now qualified for the 2019 World Championships which will be held in Sardinia, Italy during May next year. Our focus now is on those championships and making sure more of our students get the opportunity to qualify and take part in them.’
Arran Taekwondo classes take place at Lamlash and Brodick where the two clubs are run by instructors John Divine, Debbie McNally and Adrian Cannon.
Classes take place on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and are for both juniors and adults.