Battling bronze for Perse pupil at Taekwon-do World Cup
Lulu Harding (Year 11) struck a brilliant bronze at the ITF Taekwon-Do World Cup in Slovenia.
Representing Cambridge Taekwon-Do at the prestigious competition in Koper, Lulu came joint-third in the sparring event in the girls’ 12-14 black tag section – the category below back belt in the Korean martial art.
She battled through against tough opponents before losing in the over-60kg semi-finals.
Cambridge Taekwon-Do lead instructor Mirfet Hassan-Spiller said: “There were some great skills and courage from all the competitors and Lulu got through five very tough rounds of sparring to succeed in securing a bronze medal.”
Meanwhile, fellow Perse pupil and Cambridge Taekwon-Do martial artist Rebecca Alexander (Year 9) displayed excellent jumping prowess to finish fifth out of a field of 49 competitors in the special technique event in the girls’ 12-14 black tag division.
Participants had to perform a jumping side kick over a band set at a height of 1.4 metres and hit a board on the other side before then attempting to jump as high as possible to hit a board set at a starting height of two metres.
Mrs Hassan-Spiller said: “Rebecca did phenomenally well. She was the youngest in the category and against much taller opponents, this was an incredible achievement. She has serious spring on her!”
Lulu and Rebecca were also praised for their displays in the patterns event in which competitors go head-to-head with an opponent, performing a set sequence of techniques in front of a judging panel.
“The five judges watch every step, every technique, listen to every breath and note every little detail, looking for the tiniest error in order to choose one winner, to put through to the next round, from two very high performing competitors,” said Mrs Hassan-Spiller.
“The girls did amazingly well. Although there was no medal this time around, as their coach I couldn’t be prouder of their absolutely brilliant performances.”
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