FRIDAY, 11 DECEMBER – The UMS-KPT Taekwondo Championship Fiesta 2015, which will be held for three days kicks off today and promises to be a fierce competition among athletes who are competing.

 The tournament saw a total of 117 athletes from 12 teams made up of institutions of higher learning (IPT) and local Taekwondo Club encamped at Universiti Malaysia Sabah for the two categories, Poomsae and Kyorugi.

For the Poomsae event, the competition is opened to under 17 category, Under-14, Under-12, and IPT Open for Women and Men individual, Men and Women Team, and Mixed category.

For Kyorugi open category for IPT eight categories are introduced; fin weight, fly weight, bantam weight, feather weight, middle weight, welter weight and heavy weight.

The tournament was officiated by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Student Affairs and Alumni UMS, Associate Professor Dr. Ismail Ali representing the Vice-Chancellor of UMS at the Taekwondo Hall, this morning.

In his speech, he said the organisation of the tournament which was in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education was able to uncover young talents in Taekwondo.

“The Taekwondo Championship is not merely to battle and compete for the sake of winning, but what is important is the spirit of sportsmanship shown throughout the competition.

“It is hoped that athletes would be able to make this tournament as a platform to gain experience and to explore opportunities for establishing personal rapport with the athletes competing,” he said.

Also present at the opening ceremony was the Sports Secretary of IPT, Hazally Jali and the Director of Sports UMS, Mohd Asyraaf Fong. – MA (fl) 
Photo by: Suzeanywati Gasinin