Ireland (INTA) sent a squad of eight to Germany to compete in Master Paul Weiler's tournament to raise funds for the victims of the Tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia recently. The tournament was a great success raising over €3,000 and attracting over 250 competitors from Germany with International guests from The Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland.

The Irish squad included: Donal O'Donoghue, Ciaran Ryan, Lenka Marsikova, John Moffitt, Simon Costello, Antje Jaeger, Nicola McCutcheon, Miriam Grogan and was coached by national sparring coach Mr. Terry Donnelly.

Patterns competition was the first event. Ciaran Ryan, junior world champion in II Degree patterns was the first Irish player to perform. In the semi-final Ciaran again performed Juche as his optional pattern then Choog Moo as his designated pattern the decision went to the German competitor leaving Ciaran with the bronze medal.

Next up Nicola McCutcheon qualified for the semi-final of female I & II Degree patterns. Nicola performed very well but was beaten by a highly experienced German competitor securing the bronze medal.

Donal O'Donoghue then qualified from the senior male III & IV Degree category with a performance of Choi-Yong Tul. In the semi final, the designated pattern selected was Ge-Baek Tul but after another solid performance, Ireland secured their third bronze medal of the morning.

The sparring categories commenced and Ciaran Ryan was again first on the floor facing a German opponent in junior -70kg division. The bout started at a rapid pace with the German charging in looking to accumulate some early points. Ciaran used a wide range of kicking and aerial punching that had the spectators on their feet. Having defeated another German competitor in the semi final, he faced another member of the German junior team in the final. In the first round Ciaran controlled the ring well. In round two the pressure increased with both sides exchanging barrages of punches. Ciaran sparred well, however on the day the German got the decision.

Next up Nicola McCutcheon faced the current World Champion in Female IV Degree patterns in the final of their female -54kg division. This proved to be a very close fight and Nicola fought very well. However experience came through for the German competitor.

  

In the male -73kg Donal O'Donoghue came up against a German competitor, landing a reverse turning kick and controlling the ring in round one. Round two the German came back and evened the score keeping the pressure on until the final whistle. The German won the decision.

In the male -84kg category John Moffitt returned for Ireland to his first tournament after injury. John fought a methodical fight cutting some nice angles and keeping his opponent on the back foot, recording a convincing victory. The final was an excellent match with John using good strategy to control his opponent, the decision went with the German competitor after a very close fight, leaving John with a silver.

Lenka Marsikova's final in female -65kg was a battle. Lenka had dropped a weight category and faced an excellent member of the German Female team. Lenka landed some good shots shaking her opponent on a couple of occasions, however the greater kicking dexterity of the German competitor ultimately won out leaving Ireland with silver.

  

The final medal awarding ceremony closed with tournament director Master Paul Weiler presenting the Irish competitors with a large trophy in recognition of the effort taken in travelling to Dortmund to support this most worthy event. The Irish competitors wish to thank the German competitors and officials for an excellent championship with high technical standard and for the warm hospitality.