Manx Taekwondo fighter Nino Ontoy competed at the 2024 London International Open Poomsae Taekwondo Championships recently. 

The event was hosted by NextGen Taekwondo and took place at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre in London, sanctioned by British Taekwondo.  

The competition attracted more than 600 entries from 28 countries around the world. 

Ontoy was selected to compete in the under-30 categories representing the Great Britain poomsae team.  

This competition is part of his selection criteria for the 2024 World Poomsae Championship which takes place in Hong Kong in November. 

Ontoy’s first event was the team under-30 event. Since this was the starting event of the day, their performance was not their best but they managed to secure a gold medal by a remarkably close margin of 0.03.  

The next event was the pairs u30s in which Ontoy and his partner secured a bronze medal.  

The final event was the individual u30 category which was the most important one for the Manx Taekwondo athletes as the result could give him the edge for qualification. 

The preliminary round was smooth sailing as he was lying in first position, but dropped to third in the semi-finals. 

In the final round, he managed to beat his personal best with a score of 7.77 but this only landed him in third place.  

Despite that, the result was still impressive as he was the only Team GB member u30 who managed to stand on the podium.  

Overall, he managed to acquire one gold and two bronze medals which could prove to be a pivotal result in the race to qualify for the World Championship. 

Ontoy would like to thank his parents, Master Rod Nielsen, Master Kim and GB coaches, plus his sponsor Utmost Wealth International. 

For further details on how to join Manx Taekwondo, contact Master Rod Nielsen on 436181 or find them on Facebook. The club welcomes new members - both adults and children.