Ten Branford Students to Represent Connecticut in USA Taekwondo National Championships
Ten students who train at Branford World Championship Taekwondo have qualified to represent Connecticut at the 2018 USA Taekwondo National Championship competition, which will be held from Monday, July 2 through Monday, July 9 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Training under Master Kyeong Seob Han, Director, the students each received gold medals within their age ranges in form and breaking at Connecticut and New Jersey state competitions. Those competitions pitted the students against hundreds of competitors from studios located throughout the Northeast. The students’ outstanding performances have qualified them to compete at the national level.
The Branford team includes Liev Shpitalnik (age 13), Eric Min (13), Arya Nadgouda (12), Warren Montes (12), Emilie Agamie (12), Nour Elbahwi (12), Ramy Tantawy (10), Haley Han (10), Avani Diluna (10), and Adham Tantawy (7). Starting the sport at the age of four, the students have spent years training all year round, regularly spending up to six days per week in the studio to perfect techniques in form, breaking, sparring, self-defense, kicking, team demonstration, and sword art. To meet the standards necessary for success at the national level, they have engaged in an extra 4½ hours per week in preparation since October of last year.
Branford World Champion Taekwondo is a member of the larger World Champion Taekwondo (WCT) family of studios located throughout Connecticut. World Champion Taekwondo students have been competing at the national level since 2010 and, over the course of that time, have earned more than 180 medals, making WCT schools among the most successful in the nation.