Dusard wins gold at Intercontinental Cup of Taekwon-do
JAMAICA’s taekwon-do prowess was on show recently in Siberia, Russia, where Nicholas Dusard won lightweight gold at the Intercontinental Cup of Taekwon-do.
Trevor Webb Jr, on his first tour with the combined martial arts team, won silver for Jamaica against hosts Russia, Greece and Germany.
Dusard beat Russia’s Alexander Leonov in the lightweight final to boost his combined team ranking, following his bronze-medal performance at the International Taekwon-Do Federation’s World Championships in August.
Coached by Claude Chin, the combined team captain beat Germany’s Ibrahim Guelhan to reach the final against Leonov. His victory made him the first Jamaican martial artist to win gold in a major tournament on Russian soil.
Making a comeback from injury this season, Dusard had previously won gold against old rival Julio Carlos on the International Sports Karate Association’s Night of Champions at the US Open in July.
Webb Jr, a 17-year-old Calabar schoolboy, defeated Germany’s Artem Gurdzhi in semi-final action before going down to Russias Vadim Volikov in the final.
“The first fight wasn’t really hard, but the second fight was a challenge. The guy wasn’t really good on his legs, but punched really hard. I lost mainly on aggression punches… I was scoring points but the judges didn’t go my way,” said Webb, who was coached by Jason McKay.
“I am returning home to work on more fitness and flexibility to have more control over my body. I feel great. It was a victory for me. I am thankful for coach to have put out a lot of effort in preparing me for this event,” he added.
McKay said Webb Jr’s inexperience was evident, but expects the youngster to improve.
“Bearing in mind it was his first European competition and we only had him for six weeks, his inexperience showed but it was an extremely spirited performance by the youngster,” said McKay.
(From left) silver medallist Trevor Webb Jr poses with coaches Claude Chin, Jason McKay and gold medal winner Nicholas Dusard at the Intercontinental Cup of Taekwon-do in Siberia, Russia, recently.
