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WESTERN SPORTS - Red Dragon ramps up World Cup preparation

Published:Saturday | March 1, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Members of the successful Red Dragon Taekwondo Centre pose with their medals from the recently held Jamaica Superstars Invitational Martial Arts Open. They are (from left) Romound Whittaker, Alexander Watkin, Ashani Lair, Jamela Shukurah, Deshaun McKenzie, Danrique Scott, and Shiahh Shukura. Everod Chung, Oshaine Michaels, Bryan Watkin, and David Watkin are in the back row. - Contributed

WESTERN BUREAU:

Twelve competitors from the Red Dragon Taekwondo Centre copped medals at the recent Jamaica Superstars Invitational Martial Arts Open at the University of Technology (UTech) last Saturday.

Of the seven participating schools, Red Dragon took home 15 medals, including nine gold, two silver, and four bronze medals, to end the one-day tournament as one of the most decorated teams.

Shiahh Shukura, instructor and participant for Red Dragon, also won silver for sparring in the heavyweight division. The former national representative said the event was a very important stepping stone towards getting his fighters ready for the Taekwondo World Cup, which will be held in Montego Bay in August.

Useful tournament

"It was very different, but a pretty much important aspect of our schedule ahead of the World Cup," said Shukura.

"This tournament was useful in that as the World Cup nears, we want to be fully ready to deliver on the big stage, so this and others between now and then are going to be a very integral part of our training and development."

Six of the 12 who participated in Kingston are using these local competitions to sharpen their skills ahead of August. These include Christopher Clarke (black stripe belt), Oshane Michaels, Kenniel Reid, Deshaun McKenzie, Everod Chung, David Watkin, and Shukura.

Michaels won two gold medals at the Open for sparring and pattern, with McKenzie (gold) for pattern. Alexander Watkin also struck gold in the 16-year-old age group in patterns, while Bryan Watkin copped gold and bronze in patterns and sparring in the adult category. Everod Chung took the bronze for patterns in the adult category.

Jamela Shukura went one better than her father by winning gold in the nine-10 age group for sparring and patterns, while the 15-16 age group for pattern was won by Ashani Lair, who also won the bronze medal in sparring.

"These are good days for us at Red Dragon, but the best is yet to come as we expect to be medalling at the World Cup, and we can only get better from here on. These athletes are well aware of the hard work it will take to medal against high-class opposition, but we are setting the stage to accomplish big things," said Shukura.

Next up for the Red Dragon martial arts team, is the Taekwondo Open in April. Then they will get ready for the Mingen Martial Arts Championship in May before taking part in the Seido Karate Open in June.

- P.C.