Guyana’s Kawal Ramkiran capped his debut on the international taekwondo scene with a gold medal at the 10th Caribbean Taekwondo Championships held last Saturday at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex in Barbados.
According to a release from the Guyana Taekwondo Association (GTA), they were ecstatic with their athlete’s recent win at the Taekwondo Championships, which attracted taekwondo fighters from all over the Caribbean including Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Suriname, Antigua, and Trinidad.
“Ramkiran was extremely impressive in his preparation for this championship and even though he has a height disadvantage, he has the courage and determination to go after his opponent aggressively no matter what the odds may be,” the release stated.
Ramkiran dominated his semifinal round against his Barbadian opponent with a resounding victory of 6-2. He then went into the final and scored a whopping 10-3 victory against yet another fighter from the home team, which saw him securing the gold medal.
Ramkiran was not the only successful participant from Guyana at the championships as two other fighters sent by the GTA were also successful by grabbing a silver and bronze medal each.
Farhaad Bacchus, no stranger to the international taekwondo scene, picked up the silver medal.
Bacchus has represented Guyana/GTA on a number of occasions at many international taekwondo competitions in Suriname, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Columbia and Puerto Rico.
However, he was unable to clinch gold in the final when he encountered a very aggressive Surinamese fighter and had to settle for the silver medal.
The youngest Guyanese fighter at the championships, Orlando Van-Rossum, who is also no stranger to the international taekwondo scene, fought in the junior division.
Van-Rossum stood his ground well against his Surinamese opponent in the semifinal match but the Surinamese edged him out in the last few seconds to gain a 5-3 victory, limiting Van-Rossum to the bronze medal.
Meanwhile, the GTA athletes will now be preparing for the 2011 Pan Am Games Qualification Tournament in Lima, Peru in March.
They will also be preparing for the Yu-Sin Open Taekwondo Championships in Suriname this August and the World Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan in June for the 2012 Olympic Games.
