Jason Tannis captured T&T's first and only gold medal on the opening day of the tenth Caribbean Taekwondo Championships at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Bridgetown, Barbados yesterday. Fighting in the final of the Junior Light Middle (64-68kg) class, Tannis beat Jessie Huggins of St Vincent and the Grenadines 13-4.The 16-year-old recovered from a knock to the groin which caused him some discomfort as the Cheryl Ann Sankar-coached athlete showed great determination to fight back and win his first regional title.
Tannis advanced to the finals after he dispatched of home-town hope Clifferson Dixon (9-2). His win was all the more rewarding considering that he had been involved in the sport for just over a year. Speaking afterwards, Tannis said he was excited with his win and that he hoped to do well in the rest of the year."It was real hard. My opponent is an ITF player. I had to recover from a blow to my groin. I felt like giving up then but I said no."
The Servol student's success was the only bright spot for the national team on opening morning as all of its other entrants lost their matches. National Champion Jonathan Tardieu went down to Suriname's Tosh Vandyke in the Junior Lightweight category. The 14-year-old Fatima College student failed to register a point as he was beaten 9-0. In a Senior Feather coloured match up Stephan Morales lost out in a close contest against Leaton Watts of Barbados. The 18-year-old was edged 6-5 after the match seemed heading for a tie with the scores at 5-5.
Watts got the winner in the dying moments of the second and final round. 2008 Caribbean champion Insueng Jung suffered a similarly narrow loss to Walter Bouteres of Suriname in a Junior Light Heavyweight class, going under 10-8. Jung overcame a strained finger but could not get the better of his opponent.In the evening session, Katherine Lee Aping whipped Akeiba Norvelle (Barbados) 16-0.T&T won seven gold medals at the 2008 edition of the Games held at UWI Spec in St Augustine.
Day One Results
Junior
Light Male:Jonathan Tardieu (T&T) lost to Tosh Vandyk(SUR) 0-9
Light middle Male: Jason Tannis (T&T) beat Clifforson Dixon (BAR) 9-2; Tannis bt Jessie Huggins (STVG) 13-4-GOLD
Senior
Feather coloured: Stephan Morales (T&T) lost to Leaton Watts (BAR) 5-6
Light heavy –Male: Insueng Jung (T&T) lost to Walter Bouteres (SUR) 8-10
Afternoon results:
Senior
Fin Fly-Female: Katherine Lee Aping (T&T) vs Akeiba Norvelle (BAR)16-0.