On Wednesday February 3rd four of our junior fighters took to the mat at the 25th US Open Taekwondo Championships in Reno, Nevada.

First up was Josipa who drew the 2015 Pan-American Champion first match. Josipa came out strong and won an early lead for the first two rounds. But the older more seasoned veteran from the US had a strong comeback in the third round and unfortunately took the lead in the final seconds of the match with a final score of 8-9.

Next Schehzer took to the mat against a much taller athlete from the US. Schehzer had a tough time scoring many 3 or 4 point kicks but played a very strong inside game but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to take the win.

Mya also had a tough match against a US National Team fighter. Although Mya had the hight and reach advantage the US team player kept a marginal lead for much of the match. Mya fought extremely well but just fell short with a 7-11 finish.

Sofie had a fantastic day. Her first match she took the lead early and was able to maintain it with a 9-4 win. Her second match was a little tougher and found herself behind in the third round but in the last 15 seconds took the lead after scoring a spinning hook kick, bringing that match to a close with a 9-7 win. Her semi final match had her at a height advantage and took the win with a 6-2 finish. The final match was against another Canadian Fighter who was the National champ and Pan-American Silver Medalist. After a back and forth battle she missed the win by a narrow margin with a final score of 6-5.

Congratulations team. You all fought so well.