On May 1-2, the 2010 Senior National Taekwondo Championships were held in the Shaw Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. KEES Yorkton had three athletes participating in this event. The winners in this event will travel to the Pan Am taekwondo championships in Ecuador.
In the Bantam weight female division was first timer at the senior Nationals Kira Schaab. She first had to participate in the single eliminations to gain a pass to the round robin finals. She performed extremely well in the single eliminations.
There were five athletes that participated in the round robin. Kira's first opponent was two time Olympian and number one ranked, Ivett Gonda. With Kira's strong mental attitude it was decided with her coach, Graeme Mitchell, not to play it safe but go out with her best attacks. She fought hard to the end of the match, losing by a score of 10-1. She felt very good about her effort and was happy to score that single point against such an ex-perienced and seasoned champion.
Kira's final match was lost by a small margin to the silver medalist. She settled for a well-deserved bronze medal at her very first senior nationals.
Autumn Ashcroft and Rae Ashcroft both competed in the same feather weight female division. They both performed well in the single eliminations and advanced to the round robin finals. They had the bad luck of meeting each other in the first round robin match. Autumn was victorious by a score of 1-0.
The number-one ranked in their division is 10-time national champion, Pan-Am Championship, Pan-Am Games, Universiade and world champion multiple medalist, Shannon Condie. Autumn had a good match against Shannon losing by a score of 5-3. When they last met the score was 11-0 for Shannon. This was a significant improvement in her performance. Autumn lost a close match to silver medallist, Cecillia Lee, of Alberta. Autumn ended with a bronze medal performance. Rae finished in fourth place. This event gives each of the Yorkton competitors important victory ranking points for their national standings.
For further information contact Wayne Mitchell at (306) 783-0650.
