Taekwondo raised the bar
The Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) set the tone for the year 2016 when it took about 100 school children from the St Kizito Catholic Basic School at Nima to demonstrate their skiils during the March 6, Independence Day anniversary celebrations.
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That was followed by the annual Mission Junior Open Championship held at the D. G. Hithramani Hall at the Accra Sports Stadium which, among other things, aided in the preparations for the 2018 Junior Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The championship was also aimed at raising a stronger team for the 2020 Olympic Games to be hosted in Tokyo, Japan.
The federartion’s first referee licence course also took place in April after which it embarked on a training tour with members of the World Taekwondo Peace Corps to six out of the 10 regions. XTKD Open Championship was also not left out and was held just after the tour with the peace corps
Later in October, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the GTF, which is the highest decision making body of the federation, came off at the SSNIT House in Takoradi, where it adopted its reviewed constitution to guide the leadership of the GTF to steer the affairs of the federation in the coming years.
Then came the time for the submission of video clips for the novelty “I love taekwondo” video contest in November. The awards ceremony for the winners took place at the Silver Bird Cinema at the Accra Mall under the auspices of the Emabssy of the Republic of Korea and Rana Motors.
All registered taekwondo clubs in the country submitted a three-minute video clip based on a story with the title “How Taekwondo Changed My Life” or a video showing a self-created taekwondo dance, also referred to as taekwondo aerobics.
In the end, 41 clubs participated in the contest, out of which 20 clubs made it to the first round and vied for gold, silver and two bronze positions through balloting.
As part of the awards ceremony, the videos were played on the cinema screen as judges awarded marks to select the best four videos and the Great Counsellor Taekwondo Club emerged champions for the year under review after defeating Ghana Prisons Service Taekwondo Club.
It is worth noting that aside the national events, most of which took place in Accra, the Eastern Regional Association held its All-Female Open Championships, while Brong Ahafo Junior Open Championships, also took place in July.
The Greater Accra Association also organised its Cadet Open Championships with the Northern Region holding the Junior Open Championships.
Meanwhile, the flagship Korea Cup competition, which was slated for December last year was, however, postponed and will be held this month.
