4 fighters from Blackrock took part in the recent 9th Open Taekwon-Do World Championships which was held in Telford, Birmingham. This was a massive event with several thousand competitiors from all over the world (Colour Belts & Black Belts)taking part. First to fight was Julie Buckley in the Womens Lightweight Blue Belt section. Julie fought her way to the final but was then beaten by a very strong Polish opponent and had to settle for a Silver Medal. Next up was Gavin O'Brien. Gavin was fighting in the  mens middle weight Yellow Belt section. He beat his Welsh opponent in the first round but was beaten by an English Fighter in the second. Not a bad show for only his 3rd tournament (he only started Taekwon-Do in January ). Paul Manning (Black Belt Light Weight) fought & beat a very tricky Argentinean in the first round and went on to fight 1 Polish and 3 English Fighters before finally making it into the Final against another Argentinean. Carrying a lot of injuries, he struggled in the first round, and despite a strong comeback in the second round, he lost the fight and had to settle for Silver.  The real winner of the day was Daniel O Sullivan.Competing in the Mens Middle Weight Blue Belt section, he completely dominated 1 Northern Irish & 2 English Fighters in the earlier rounds to get to the Final against a very tall Polish Fighter. Despite his opponent having a large height & weight advantage Daniel fought very well and took home the Gold for Blackrock. His instructors James Dwyer & Paul Manning are extremely proud of him and hope that he continues this success into the Black Belts sections next year.All in all, it was a great competition, one that we look forward to again in 2/3 years time. Congrads also to Stephen Nyhan of Innishannon Taekwon-Do, who got to the 2nd round of the mens lightweight blackbelt section only to be beaten by a very strong English figher (who went on to take Bronze). The fighers were coached on the day by Mr Gerard Allen 5th Dan, and Mr James Dwyer 4th Dan.Results:Paul Manning, Black Belt, Silver MedalistJulie Buckley, Blue Belt, Silver MedalistDaniel O'Sullivan, Blue Belt, Gold Medalist, World Champion!!!!