Ghana holds second taekwondo championship
The SDM Open Taekwondo Championship, the biggest Taekwondo event in Ghana, has ended its 2013 championships at the Accra Sports Stadium awarding over 180 medals and fourteen trophies.
The SDM Open, sponsored by the SDM Taekwondo Foundation in collaboration with the Ghana Taekwondo Association, was held under the theme: “Taekwondo for Unity,”. The event was marked with excitement and fun attracting about 300 participants who contested in Sparring, Assembly Forms and Breaking.
The first day on July 26, saw participants in the senior male and female categories competed in single combats based on the Olympic weight divisions followed by a competition in synchronize movements in teams of three and in various breaking divisions – high jump breaking, long jump breaking, free style skill breaking, free style group breaking and power breaking.
For the Sparring, Senior Category, the Most Promising Male Player went to Solomon Sheriff of Ghana Prison Service, Accra with the Most Promising Female Player going to Karima Zakari of Togo. The Marpro Taekwondo Club (Takoradi) was adjudged the Best Sparring Club.
The Assembly Forms and Breaking category saw the Most Promising Senior Male Player (Individual Skill Breaking) going to Emmanuel Okai of State School for the Deaf, Adjei Kojo; the Most Promising Senior Female Player (Individual Skill Breaking) went to Hannah Humphrey of Marpro Taekwondo Club, Takoradi and the Most Promising Junior Player (Individual Skill Breaking) going to Gregory Azah of Martin Luther King International School, Ashaiman.
The Best Team for Assembly Forms in the Senior Category went to the University of Ghana, Legon; the Best Team for Assembly Forms in the Junior Category to Martin Luther King International School, Ashaiman; the Best Team for Assembly Forms in the Children Category to WAM, Tema; the Best Team for Breaking in the Senior Category to Marpro Taekwondo Club, Takoradi; the Best Team for Breaking in the Junior Category to Kingscourt International School, Ashaiman; the Best All-Round Player to Charles Emilien of Congo; the Best Coach/Instructor to Selorm Fayise (WAM, Tema); the Best Club for Breaking and Assembly Forms to WAM (Tema).
The Chairman of the SDM Taekwondo Open Championships, Mr. Charles Hanson-Adu, said for the first time in Ghana, Para Taekwondo practitioners or the physically challenged participated in the event in an atmosphere of friendliness and excitement.
In addition to attracting local participants, he said, the championship attracted taekwondo clubs from Togo, Congo and Nigeria.
Source: GNA