Sixteen athletes will fly the flag for Australia at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships after winning their division at the recent Senior World Taekwondo Championships selection event in Penrith.
Young guns Jake Buhagiar from Halls Taekwondo in Victoria and Matthew Summerfield from Rawlins Taekwondo in Western Australia made their mark on the senior ranks, each securing a spot on Australia's National Team.
Summerfield broke Australia's 14-year junior medal drought in 2022 after he fought his way to the semi-finals at the World Junior Taekwondo Championships to secure bronze.
Buhagiar blitzed the backend of the 2022 season with gold medals at the WT Presidents Cup, Oceania Championship, Tahiti Open and Australian Taekwondo National Championships, form that helped Buhagiar move into the categorised ranks as an Emerging athlete for 2023.
Summerfield, who was recently announced as a squad member for the National Performance Centre's Taekwondo Program, will be joined by fellow squad members and now national teammates, including Saffron Tambyrajah (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Stacey Hymer (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Reba Stewart (Halls Taekwondo, VIC), Bailey Lewis (City West Taekwondo, VIC), Tom Afonczenko (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Leon Sejranovic, (Notorious Martial Arts, VIC), Liam Sweeney (One Taekwondo, QLD) and Rebecca Murray (Edge Taekwondo, QLD).
Rounding out the team of 16 are Juliet Lahood (Global Martial Arts, NSW), Arash Mozhdeh (Mozhdeh Martial Arts, VIC), Emily Stellino (Global Martial Arts, NSW), Adam Meyers (The Story Centre, VIC), Molly Parks (Mozhdeh Martial Arts, VIC), and Amber Heslop (Forza Taekwondo, ACT) who will all make the trip to Baku in May.
The World Taekwondo Championships will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from May 29 - June 4, 2023.
*Article taken from AUSTKD website: National Taekwondo Team Selected for Senior World Taekwondo Championships in Azerbaijan | Australian Taekwondo (austkd.com.au)