Students and instructors from OMAC Taekwondo in New Westminster brought home some impressive hardware from recent competitions.
Instructor Jason Russel, a New West resident, won bronze in the U50 Male Poomsae at the Canada Open Taekwondo Championships, which ran from Feb. 23 to 25 at Canada Place.
Numerous athletes from the local martial arts school also took part in the BC Open Taekwondo Championships, held on Sunday, Feb. 26 at Canada Place. Here’s how these New West and Burnaby residents fared:
Sparring: Instructor Ryan Abel of New West — Bronze; and Andon Le of Surrey — Gold
Poomsae: Max Choi — Bronze (Burnaby) 10-11 boys yellow belt; Tom Anderko — Gold (New Westminster) 10-11 boys yellow belt; Om Ajgaonkar — Silver (NW) 8-9 boys blue belt; Stefan Rotaru — Bronze (NW) 10-11 boys black belt; Misha Fossl — Top 8 (NW) 12-14 Cadet female black belt; instructor Michaella Revereza — Bronze (NW) U30 female black belt; Shaun Cadiz — Silver (NW) 6-7 boys yellow belt; Isaac Santos — Silver (NW) 10-11 boys green belt; Aiden Santos — Bronze (NW) 6-7 boys green belt; Faith Lu — Bronze (NW) 11-12 girls green belt; Hazel Essery — Bronze (NW) 11-12 girls green belt; Mariyah Mann — Bronze (NW) 8-9 girls green belt; Athena Lam — Bronze (Burnaby) 8-9 girls blue belt; Hana Bessler — Bronze (NW) 11-12 girls red belt; Ava Rhyne — Top 8 (NW) 12-14 Cadet female black belt; McKinley Steffan — Gold (NW) 11-12 girls orange belt; Junah Fossl — Top 8 (NW) 14-17 junior male black belt; Nurdan Almabekov — Gold (Burnaby) U30 male red belt; Emilio Brehm — Gold (NW) 10-11 boys orange belt.
“For the majority of our students, it was their first competition,” said Young Suh, master/owner of OMAC Taekwondo. “We had a 10-week weekend training session before the competition, where competition protocols were discussed. We are extremely proud and happy with their results.”
Located at 842 12th St. in New Westminster, OMAC Taekwondo has served the South Burnaby/New Westminster community since 1998.
