XXI ITF World Championships in Plovdiv Bulgaria

On August 23rd four members from Nuneaton Taekwon-Do travelled to Plovdiv in Bulgaria for the 2019 ITF World Championships as part of a 31 strong team from England. Making up the team from Nuneaton was Beth Frisby II Dan, Ella Barnes I Dan, Libby Cashmore I Dan and Danielle Williams IV Dan.

This year's World Championships were the biggest yet combining Junior, Senior and Veteran categories with delegates from over 70 countries including favourites North Korea, Czechia, Greece and Japan.

After arriving early on Friday the English team headed straight over to registration and weigh-in at the Grand Hotel Plovidv. All competitors successfully made weight and after receiving their competitor passes the team settled in at the Plovidv Hills hotel which would be their base for the week.

Saturday and Sunday was spent getting in some last minute training in the local park. Conditions were challenging with temperatures soaring to 35°C during the day however the team worked hard refreshing themselves on their patterns and sparring drills. Then on to Sunday night's official Opening Ceremony at the Kolodrum Velodrome including the Power TKD full contact event showcasing select fighters from around the world.

Day 1 (Monday) saw the competition kick off with the Individual Patterns categories. Nuneaton TKD's Ella Barnes was the first to step up against Kazakhstan in the Junior Female I Dan Patterns . Despite one of her best performances the result didn't go her way with her opponent winning by a slim margin.

On Day 2 (Tuesday) the competition continued with patterns which meant it was the turn of Beth Frisby in Junior Female II Dan Patterns . Despite a great performance from Beth, performing a very technical Eui Am and Kwang Gae, her Greek opponent won the match and went on to win Bronze.

The Junior Females (Beth, Ella and Libby Cashmore) then faced the home side Bulgaria in Team Patterns but were unable to progress this time losing by only a few points. A good experience from a relatively new England Junior team.

The individual sparring categories was well underway on Day 3 (Wednesday) with Nuneaton Taekwon-Do instructor Danielle Williams in action in the Senior Ladies +77kg Sparring . After the Ukrainian opponent withdraw, Danielle beat Australia to top her group and progress through to the elimination stages.

Danielle's sparring continued early on Day 4 (Thursday) however she lost out to the eventual silver medallist from Czechia obtaining a bronze in the process.

Then it was the turn of Ella and Libby to spar. Ella had drawn Bulgaria and Korea in the group stages of 16 to 17 years Junior Female -45kg Sparring . Despite losing we saw a huge improvement from Ella who managed a 1:3 split decision against Bulgaria and only conceded one point against Korea who eventually went on to secure the Gold.

In the 14 to 15 years Junior Female -60kg Sparring Libby had drawn a tough competitor from Bosnia Herzegovina and Greece. Great improvements from Libby at her first World Championships but her opponents proved too tough this time with the Greek competitor eventually securing Bronze.

On Day 5 (Friday) it was finally time for Beth to spar against a tough competitor from home nation Bulgaria and the eventual Gold medal winner from Czechia. Both Ella and Beth then had their first taste of Team Sparring in the 16 to 17 years category against DPR Korea. Teammate Gabby Rhodes was first onto the mat narrowly losing in the last few seconds. Next followed Katie Stone who secured a win against her opponent meaning the score was 1:1 as Beth stepped up for the third match. Unfortunately she lost and was followed by Ella who couldn't quite secure the win meaning the Koreans progressed through to the next round.

The competition finally finished at 10:30 pm but no rest for the team who had to pack and then catch their shuttle to the airport at 2:00 am.

Overall we are very proud of how our competitors conducted themselves both on and off the mat against the World's best.

Now looking ahead to the 2020 European Championships in Prague and the 2021 World Championships in China .