JACK and Charlie Taplin from San Training have been crowned red belt champions in their respective divisions at the National Taekwondo Championships in Bendigo.
The championships, which were on December 3-4, was attended by around 1050 competitors including 9 San Training students, which owner Cameron Taylor said two students won gold.
“Charlie and Jack both won their finals and became the national title holders of their divisions, Jack is in the senior opens division and Charlie is in the cadet division, which is for twelve- to fourteen-year-olds,” he said.
“They actually just came across from New Zealand this year… they are new to the club and they’ve been doing really well and working really hard, so I think it’ll be a good next year for them”.
“…especially for the older one Jack, he’s in the open division so he’ll be competing in a lot more major competitions next year.”
The Taplin brothers weren’t the only ones who impressed at Bendigo though.
Red belt students Maverick Allanson and Kaitlyn McNutly both lost their finals but snagged a silver medal.
Black belt student Charlie Bidgood lost his final, resulting in a silver medal, and Cameron Taylor and Conner Adams won a bronze at the nationals.
Taylor told GC&M News the club is already gearing up for an international event, which will be the club’s next Taekwondo event.
“We’ve got quite a big year next year, we’ve got a big international event, we’ve got the Australian Open which will be in Brisbane in April,” he said.
“It will be a ranked event too, so it’s something we are really looking forward to for next year.”