Anguilla’s national ITF taekwon-do team earned 16 medals – 10 gold, three silver and three bronze – at the 38th USTC Red Tiger Cup in Philadelphia.
Held on 3 and 4 May, the tournament featured more than 400 athletes from the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic and Anguilla.
Junior athletes Nassim Connor, Cyan Carty, Joden Henry, Haojun ‘James’ Tang, Eboni Hodge, and Malik Ashby competed, along with senior athlete Simeon Olton.
They were led by manager Krystie Permuy and coach Vidal Permuy.
Gregory Permuy, president of the AXA ITF Taekwon-Do Association, also attended to support the team. He is an international umpire and conducted the power break event.
Ashby made club history as the first student to win first place in all three events at a single tournament – patterns, sparring and flying high kick.
Meanwhile, in his fourth tournament appearance, Connor took the gold in patterns for the fourth time in a row.
His closest competitor – his teammate Tang – secured the silver in his tournament debut after under three weeks of learning the pattern following his belt promotion.
The friendly rivalry continued in the flying high kick event, where Connor was the victor, before moving on to sparring, where Tang took the gold while Connor secured bronze.
“Incredible performances from both athletes – displaying focus, determination, and sportsmanship,” the association said in a Facebook post on 9 May.
The team thanked sponsors: AXA ITF Taekwon-Do Association, Nagico, Lloyd’s Aviation, Anguilla Crown Hardware, SolAire/Meads Bay Beach Villas, and Jean and Robert Donato.
They gave additional thanks to Junie’s Car Rental, Kevin Bryan, Dionne Bryan, Navine Fleming, and the families and friends of the team members.
