Bridgnorth lad strikes gold in nationals
Bridgnorth Tae Kwon-Do student Jake Round has struck gold in a national competition.
The 16-year-old took part in a junior novice event in Tewkesbury where he took part in all three elements of the competition and excelled to come home with a gold and two silvers.
The contest was open to under 16s with experience at three or less previous competitions only and club instructor Gary Plant was delighted with Round's performance.
Plant said: "Jake was involved in a tiebreaker for gold in the mixed age, gender and height patterns division, and he won convincingly.
"He is a very competent black belt, but he's relatively new to the competitive side of Tae Kwon-Do.
"Competitions are appealing to more and more of our students as we develop our club and Jake has been inspired by his peers' success at national and internal competitions.
"Despite entering a novice competition, Jake fought against seasoned competitors in both sparring divisions.
"The experienced competitors stepped in because particularly being a black belt, there were no suitable novice candidates of a similar age, height and grade to match Jake for the sparring divisions.
"His sparring partners belonged to the hosts' national team and were fresh out of their national training session.
"Jake won some excellent points and blocked their kicks with ease. Jake won two silvers for his sparring, in both point-stop and continuous styles.
"He is quietly confident and this competition allowed many positive aspects of Jake's personality to shine. He showed calm skill and focus. We are excited to see what the future holds for Jake."
