Miss Deona Mei Lam Chan one of our students, travelled to South Korea in May 2023 to participate in the Asian-Pacific Masters Games (AMPG) held by the International Masters Games Committee, in Jeonbuk, South Korea.
Deona (3rd Dan) has always wanted to visit Korea where is the home of Taekwondo. When her British team-mate Master John Lockwood (5th Dan), and her friend Master Trinity Osborne (5th Dan Kukkiwon; 7th Dan Moo Duo Kwan) who is the Captain of the USA Masters Team mentioned this event to her, she saw this as an opportunity to participate in the games and travel.
‘The sports are very wide-spreaded!’ says Deona. ‘It seems like they have chosen the venues for their centres of excellence in each of their sport’. The AMPG has held events for 25 different sports, attracting 10000 athletes to participate from all over the world.
Deona had signed up for a 10km road race, as well as Taekwondo Poomsae and Kyorugi events. Due to the 10km road race was on the same day as the Taekwondo weigh-in and the complexity of travel, she had to give up on attending the road race.
‘I was ashamed not be able to come to Korea and do everything I’ve set out to do, but it was great to come to Korea to do Taekwondo and I met a lot of great people- made some new friends and saw some old ‘international fighting friends’ says Deona.
One of her tasks was to coach her British Team-mate Master John Lockwood for his Kyorugi event. ‘It is more nerve wrecking coaching than fighting myself!’ says Deona. Master John Lockwood was awarded a Gold Medal for his -68kg Kyorugi in the Male -55 years A Class Division.
Deona won an unexpected bronze medal from the Female -45 years B Class Poomsae event. She was also awarded a Gold Medal for her -67kg Kyorugi in the Female -45 years B Class Division.
‘It’s not bad coming off with 3 medals for a two-person team!’ Says Master Lockwood.
Throughout the 6 day stay in Taekwondowon, Muju, Deona felt that she was well looked after by everyone including the Chinese Team. the Hong Kong China Team and the Team from India.
Deona continues to promote Gibraltar during her travels, a town where she is very fond of.
