McGovern’s golden day at Nationals
Taekwondo ace floors Manchester rivals
CIARAN McGovern put on a spectacular floor show to prove the best of British, writes TONY HODGSON.
The taekwondo prospect from Gosforth triumphed in the under68kgs category at the National Taekwondo Finals at Manchester’s National Cycling Centre.
In doing so, the 18-year-old went one better than last year, when he claimed a silver medal.
McGovern - a member of the Ferryhill-based Team Warriors Taekwondo Club, contested four bouts.
He prevailed in the first 26-6, won his quarter-final 12-7 and then his last-four fight 11-3 befre triumphing 13-8 in the decider.
He said: “It was my first time contesting the championships as a senior as I was still classed as a junior last year.
“There were a lot of quality fighters taking part so I was delighted to win and go one better than last year.
“Hopefully this will set me up for this weekend’s French Open.
“The competition will be even tougher but hopefully I can build on what I achieved in Manchester.
“I am looking foward to competing and if I can do well there it would round off the year in style for me.”
McGovern’s golden success follows on from an encouraging performance on his first senior outing - the Polish Open.
He failed to medal but was happy with his performance.
The youngster won his first fight in the round of 32 against a French athlete 11-6, then lost in the round of 16 against the top seed from Israel’s national team 11-9.
Before that, McGovern had been called up by Great Britain for the European Under-21 Championships in Sweden - only for his bid for glory to be hampered by a hamstring injury sustained in training. ■ DON’T miss a big end-of-year feature on McGovern in Grassroots Sport over the festive period.