Soul-be at the World Taekwondo Championships
Soul-be Courtney was selected to represent the Northern Ireland UKTC Taekwondo Team at the WITC World Championships in Scotland on 3 Nov 2019. The competition consisted of over 600 competitors representing 22 countries.
The competition commenced at 0900hrs with Soul-be competing in the red belt - black tag, 10 - 13 years, female junior section. This was a large category with 33 competitors battling it out in the Poomse (Patterns) discipline to start the day. Soul-be kept her discipline and composure to progress through 6 rounds against the worlds best to win Gold and have the honour of being the World Champion.
The afternoon was focussed on Kyorugi (Sparring) competitions with Soul-be again facing fierce competition from the worlds top competitors. After a devastating blow at the Irish Open when Soul-be suffered a heavy defeat she had intensified her training regime and worked on her mental strength leading up to the Worlds. She fought through to a highly competitive final but was denied by the judges decision, being awarded the Silver medal.
Her proudest part of the day was leading her team of 3 in the Poomse and Kyorugi Team competition winning a team Bronze Medal in a highly charged sparring competition.
Soul-be has worked tirelessly over the past 9 years with her focus on attending the World Championships, but never dreamed she would come away with an Individual Gold and Silver as well as a team Bronze medal.
The NI team returned with over 60 medals during the course of the 3 day event. She is proud to be part of such a successful team and is grateful for the support from her coaches at UKTC Northern Ireland. Well done Soul-be!
