The Civic Taekwando Academy team took 5 athletes to compete recently in New Zealand, who all returned with medals showing that the future of the sport is bright in Fiji.
Civic Taekwando Academy and National coach, Neelu Nand says they were really impressed with the performance of their athletes as they returned with 3 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze medal.
Nand says Praneet Kumar won gold in Poomsae and a bronze in the Lightweight division.
He says Sakiusa Tuva won gold in the Heavyweight and a silver in the Lightweight division.
The coach says the other 3 are juniors with Nidhish Nand getting a silver and a gold medal in the Finweight and Flyweight division.
Kavya Kumar won silver in the Junior Heavyweight division while Bhavish Nand got 2 silver in the Poomsae and Cadet under 13.
Nand confirms that of their 2 senior athletes, Praneet Kumar is a member of the Pacific Games squad while Sakiusa Tuva is on the reserves.
Nand says Taekwando has become very dynamic and they need to ensure their athletes adapt to those drills, so the sparring sessions help. He says that Taekwando has really grown exponentially in Fiji as a recent local competition had over 150 athletes. The coach says it was a full day event as they had teams from Nadi, Nakasi, Nausori plus all the Suva teams.
For those thinking about taking up the sport, Nand says Taekwando will help you with your physical and mental ability, helps you discipline yourself and gives you self confidence.
