The 2010 Irish Intervarsity Tae Kwon Do Championships took place on last Sunday. The event, hosted by the UCD Tae Kwon Do Club, attracted a large number of colleges from throughout the island and with an exceptional performance UCD were crowned overall winners.

The event has a reputation for producing exceptionally tough opposition wi th both individual and team events on the line for university competitors.

The day began with the traditional aspects of Tae Kwon Do. This year the Black Belt Patterns' section (sequences of 20 to 40+ movements done at varying tempos and with various technical difficulties) saw a very large contingent of competitors, many of whom had experience of international competitions at both continental and world championship level. As each round of patterns progressed, the increased level of both technical difficulty and precision of movement became clear to all who were watching.

The Black Belt sparring section followed. This produced some epic battles and displays of physical and mental toughness. Each fight consisted of 2 rounds of 2 minutes at very high intensity. There was both a heavy weight and light weight section, each producing awe inspiring performances from all competitors. UCD’s Mr. Sambin Seferovic  (1^st degree) and Mr. Tiernan Byrne (2^nd Degree) both competed at lightweight and put in phenomenal displays, with Tiernan coming out in second place, in a very closely fought final, to Mr. Ross McBride from CIT. Sambin produced a bronze medal winning performance after losing a rigorously fought battle in his semi-final. The ladies' final was a very tactical affair, with the eventual winner from Mary Immaculate College , Ms. Ciara O'Shea, just getting the upper hand in the end.

As is traditional at Tae Kwon Do events, the colour belts sections followed with the senior Black Belts acting as judges and referees for the various events.

The standard of the colour belts section again proved the level of Tae Kwon Do at college level is right up there to challenge the best. The patterns' section showcased some very promising talent, with incredible balance, technique and power. The categories were broken up slightly differently to normal ITF Taekwondo categories, in order to accommodate the number of competitors. In the White Belt to Yellow Stripe category, the judges put the competitors through their paces, asking a variety of patterns to check the depth of the competitor’s knowledge. Multiple rounds later, the UCD competitors had shown their class by taking all the places on the podium (Aaro Viertio 1^st, Patrick Madigan 2^nd and in joint 3^rd Rebecca Anderson and Ciara Fitzpatrick. Well done to Cormac Shea who performed admirably but unfortunately did not place on the day.  The Yellow to Green Belt category was also won by a UCD competitor, Kevin Doherty (Green Tag).

The Blue Stripe to Black Stripe category of patterns was again dominated by UCD with Ciaran Brennan (Red Belt) and Niall Nelligan (Blue Stripe) taking gold and silver respectively, after the final between Ciaran and Niall produced some patterns of international standard. Ian Woods put in an excellent performance just finishing outside the medals. In the ladies competition for Blue Stripe to Black Stripe, UCD’s Karen Quinn produced a bronze medal winning performance, getting defeated in the semi-final.

The colour belt sparring saw UCD achieving excellent results with some very memorable fights. In the White to Green Belt section UCD’s Aaro Vierto doubled his haul of Gold Medals. This category is done as a non-continuous points system that requires a very tactical approach to win. UCD’s Patrick Madigan  finished 2^nd, with Kevin Doherty, also of UCD, and University of Ulster Jordanstown's Paul McArdle, finishing joint 3^rd. Rebecca Anderson took the gold medal in the ladies section, after a great display in her final against fellow UCD competitor Ciara Fitzpatrick.

In the Men’s Blue Stripe to Black Stripe category, UCD again displayed their competitive abilities. The lightweight section saw Niall Nelligan (Blue Stripe) taking 1^st after a hard-fought final against CIT's Robin Screech (Black Stripe), that saw Niall starting off slow but eventually dictating the fight with some fast and creative  kicking techniques. In the Heavy Weight section Ian Woods (Blue Belt) showed his sheer dominance in his category with some particularly memorable moments, including his trademark shuttle kick (a feinting, running jump-side kick). In the ladies Blue Stripe to Black Stripe continuous sparring, Ciara Glynn (Blue Stripe) of UCD gave a remarkable come-back performance – after being out for a long time due to injury – winning a bronze medal.

The final event of the day was the team sparring competition that took place between UCD and CIT. The UCD Team of Ian Woods, Rebecca Anderson and Ciara Fitzpatrick took on CIT, whose team included the runner-up of the heavy weight men's Blue Stripe/Black Stripe section, Pierce Brady,  plus the first and third placed fighters from the light weight ladies' Blue Stripe/Black Stripe section, Ann Sharon Buckley and Josephine Carver. After a gallant effort by both teams the final result was 2-1 in favour of CIT.

Overall, 6 UCD Tae Kwon do competitors were crowned Intervarsity champions. This can be put down to the exceptional hard work put in by all the competitors in training, and to the dedication of the club's Chief Instructor, Mr. Fearghal O’hAodha (2^nd Degree). Special thanks also to all the club committee for their time and efforts in putting together the event, and to all the judges and referees for their contribution to the event's success. Particular thanks to Mr. Diarmuid McSuibhne (3rd Dan) of UCC who played an important role in the smooth running of the tournament.