The Irish Taekwondo Union had some great success at one of Europe’s Largest ranking events on November 15th where Jack Woolley (16) competed in Zagreb at the 20th Croatian Open in the Junior -51kg Division. Jack, who narrowly missed out on attending this years Youth Olympics progressed through the rounds with substantial scoring from his signature head kicks. His path to gold included a bye in round 1, 23-18 victory against German Opposition in the 2nd round, 25-5 defeat of a local Croat in the quarter finals, 11-8 semi final success against Egypt and a thrilling 18-6 win against Israel in the final. Jack who trains at South Dublin Taekwondo Academy was accompanied by his Coach Robert Taaffe who summarised, ‘It was a great outing for Jack, there were some testing situations which he overturned with mature performances, we had a very successful day with video replay calls. Jack finished 2 of his matches with 12 point gaps against substantial opposition, and this should prove to be a great stepping stone to a big 2015, Jacks final year as s Junior.’
