First off a big thank you to Angus Budge and Luke McGowan for the organisation of the 2014 Scottish Closed. Everyone I spoke to commented on how smoothly everything was going. So gentlemen, my thanks and the thanks of the remaining 269 (ish) competitors who were there. I've always said up until today that that 2013's Scottish Closed was the best competition I'd ever been to.... but now I can't, as 2014's is now top of that list and there are many reasons, you'll find out why as I ramble on.
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| Prestwick & Ayr Competitors.. Kuli's Krew! |
Team Harley arrived at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility at about 9:15am which we thought would put us near the entry doors to the competition area. What was slightly worrying was the number of cars we saw in the carpark, surely all these cars weren't the competitors and family?? I think nearly all of them were as when the competition was over the carpark was virtually empty! However, we moved smoothly along the line and into the hall. Six areas had been setup which was two more than the Closed last year when it was at Wishaw. This was great though as with the number of people competing the extra competition areas helped the events to run smoothly. At this point I think its also prudent to thank the umpires and referees who give up their time to help with these events and sometimes they get a serious earbashing from competitors and parents/coaches etc. But remember that without them there wouldn't be any competitions!
Now I am going to be slightly bias towards Prestwick & Ayr Tae Kwon Do and the reason being that the first time we had so many people competing so I was getting pulled from pillar to post and didn't have my two assistants this time (Teagan and Kiran) as they were both competing or coaching. Incidentally, Kiran, your dad is very proud of you and we have the Facebook post to prove it! Anyhow.. apologies to those I didn't get round to see or get a photo of you competing or even seeing you compete, theres only one of me and I couldn't be in 3 places at once, although I did try at one point and nearly broke my neck running between areas! This all happened while I was watching the patterns competition my son Ieuan along with his team mates Dylan Nutt and Connor Mulgrew were competing in. Ieuan is only 7 and he is trying so hard and I know its just a matter of time before something clicks and he starts winning medals. He did however get through his first round but was beaten in the 2nd. Dylan and Connor got through their 1st and 2nd round and then ended up against each other in the 3rd round. Both of them looked really sharp and confident in their pattern execution and personally for me watching them both it was a close call but the judges decision went with Dylan. Just after this I ran (yes RAN!) the 10 paces to a neighbouring area to see Jordyn Finlay get through her round and then young Rachael Cotton follow her. Both ended up in the final which again, I didn't want to call the winner but the decision went with Jordyn who got the gold and Rachael the silver... well done girls! Excellent performance! I then ran (again!) back in time to see Dylan finish the last half of his pattern and.... win gold! Well done mate!
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| Jordyn Finlay (left) and Rachael Cotton (right) |
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| Scott Williams, Dylan Nutt (centre) & Michael McGraw |
While Dylan was competing his dad, Craig Nutt, was over doing his green belt patterns event. This was way over the other side of the arena and I wasn't able to get over in time to see how he did but just afterwards, over strolls (or was that swaggers??) Craig with another gold for Team Nutt. A very proud father with a proud son!
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| Team Nutt - Golden Boys |
Just after this I heard the call for men's blue belt patterns in area 6. So over I ran (I was at area 2 after all!) to this area to join with my fellow blue belt competitors including some faces I know, Josh Maxwell, Thomas Dillon, someone I just met that day. Paul Stewart and someone I always love to get together with at an event.... Jonathan Maxwell, big Maxi. Thomas was up first competing against Josh, both looked good and powerful in their pattern execution but at the end of their performance the judges voted Thomas through to the next round. Next it was Maxi up against Paul Stewart. Both looked really good but it was Maxi putting on a really strong performance of Joong Gun who won that round. I was lucky enough to get a by so I was up against Thomas in the 2nd. Having just watched them all I could see these guys were good so I had to really give it all and be sharp and powerful. Whatever I did it must have worked as all the judges voted my way, and put Thomas in the bronze metal position and meant that Maxi and I were competing for first and second place. I hope Maxi won't mind me telling this story but after last years Scottish Open, he and I had been competing for a bronze and it was a pretty close call which I had just edged in and won. Afterwards on Facebook we'd had a bit of banter on this and I'd cheekily said that next competition we were in together I would get a gold and he a silver. Well, after we'd both given what I hope the judges thought was a sterling performance, we both waited for the decision.... which went my way. My first gold medal in competition and Maxi's first patterns medal. Well done again mate! :) Thanks to Mr Stewart McRoberts who gave Maxi and I some feedback after the event aswell. Its good to know where improvements can be made and your comments were most welcome, Sir.
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| From Left to Right: Iain Harley (Gold), Thomas Dillon (Bronze) Paul Stewart Jonathan Maxwell (Silver) & Josh Maxwell Photo taken by Claire Quinn |
Master Donnelly called a halt to the proceedings so he could get all the Scotland Squad together and praise them for their amazing results the previous weekend. Of particular note was how the GB teams banded together to take on, and win, against an exceedingly strong Russian team. This just goes to show that the TAGB teams can work just as well as one big GB team as they can in their country's squads and sets an excellent example.The Squad did a fantastic job and brought home a nice load of silverware, a good start for Luke McGowan as team coach.
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| TAGB Scotland Team who competed in Switzerland the previous weekend |
With most of the patterns events out the way the sparring was free to get under way. Again it was the enthusiastic kids that stole the show. There was a hard fought bronze medal for Breagh McKellar, another tough fight and a bronze for Connor Mulgrew and a seriously stunning tag team match from Connor and his tag partner Ty O'Donnell who picked up the gold. Michael Wright from Auchinleck got himself a silver for his entry in the boys green belt sparring. Alexandra Wroe got a gold in individual sparring while her sister Jardine won a bronze in the tag team event. A double gold went to Taylor Allan. Zoe Andrews, another first time competator won herself a silver while Morgan Smith won a gold in patterns and a bronze in sparring. Well done to all you guys. Medals were really coming in thick and fast, it was hard for me to keep up with everything!
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| Michael Wright (right) with his father Robert (left) |
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| Connor and Ty - golden boys |
Back over with the Auchinleck crowd I watched Pepe Sir win a bronze in the men's lightweight sparring, Sean Ginnity also get bronze in his mens middleweight and Simon Littlejohn scored some excellent points but was just pipped in the final but won a silver for his efforts in the mens red belt heavyweight.
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| Mens sparring Martin Paterson (Bronze), John MacKay (Gold) Simon Littlejohn (Silver) |
Maureen Brown also did some excellent work in her sparring division and came away with a silver. Maureen hasnt been sparring long but shes certainly putting 100% effort into this part of her training and it's really starting to pay off for her.
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| Ladies sparring Maureen Brown (Silver), Kirsty Reid (Gold) Mel Gorrie (Bronze) |
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| Left to Right: Kim Boney (Bronze), Claire Quinn (Gold), Michell Duffy (Silver) |
As the sparring events were starting to wind down, the parent and child patterns was called. This was going to be on the two mats right in the middle of the arena. There was a bit of a delay while some of the finals of the men's individual sparring were concluding. Craig Nutt was in the final of his men's green belt sparring and was due to take part in the parent and child patterns as well so I went over to cheer him on. Craig was going great guns until there was a clash of legs with his opponent. Initially it looked like he had suffered a deadleg, but it quickly became clear that it wasn't just as simple as this. Craig could barely put any weight on his foot and it then looked like a calf muscle tear. This effectively ended the bout but Craig still came away with a silver for his hard work. Unfortunately this injury meant that Craig and Dylan had to pull out of the parent and child pattern event.Craig is going to be out for a bit while he fully heals, turns out in addition to the torn muscle he also has a broken fibula. Wishing you a speedy recovery!
The parent and child patterns event was only introduced 3 years ago and has become really popular very quickly. Last year there were 8 or 9 entries but this year it was 18 and included 3 pairs from Prestwick & Ayr of which my daughter and I were one. Teagan and I had chosen Joong Gun as its her choice colour belt pattern and I had just spent six months working on and trying to perfect it for my last grading so it seemed the logical choice. Again this was a five judges decision on which pair of competitors were the best. It's great to see families competing this way and goes to show how many of them train together in their respective clubs throughout Scotland. Teagan and I won our way through our first and second rounds, we (or should that be I) struggled a bit on the third round but we scraped through. Unfortunately we lost out on the fourth but were still in contention for a third place which we both Joong Gunn'ed our hearts out and managed to collect the bronze medals.
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| All the Parent and Child patterns medal winners |
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| Bronze for one half of Team Harley |
The final event of the day was the mens blue/red belt tag team sparring. I knew most of the faces here, Josh and Jonathan Maxwell (the Mad Maxwell's... enough said), Martin Patterson and John MacKay and the final pairing of Neil Hanning along with George Lupton. Some excellent sparring, sportsmanship and overall good fun from all the gentlemen here. A great way to end what was an excellent competition!
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| Gold for Father and Son Team Jonathan and Josh Maxwell Silver for John MacKay and Martin Paterson Bronze went to Neil Hanning and George Lupton Middle of the shot is TAGB Scotland Coach Luke McGowan |
