Twelve members of Bungay Taekwondo Club, based at Bungay High School, flew up to Edinburgh at the weekend to compete in the first ever Goodwill International Open Taekwondo Tournament and had a fabulously successful time.

Twelve members of Bungay Taekwondo Club, based at Bungay High School, flew up to Edinburgh at the weekend to compete in the first ever Goodwill International Open Taekwondo Tournament and had a fabulously successful time.

The event in the huge Meadowbank Sports Stadium attracted teams from USA, Poland, Russia, Brazil, Korea, China (Hong Kong) and Canada as well as all the home nations, who competed over two days for the new Taekwondo Goodwill Trophy.

In the coloured belt event Ben Howlett-Cobb overcame great odds to win two silvers in the 15-17 age category for sparring and patterns, whilst Nidge Bedingfield won silver in the veterans sparring.

Tom Raven fought really hard to achieve a bronze in the 12-14 year olds sparring and Logan Bedingfield also won bronze in the under 60kg division. Sue and Kal Bedingfield reached the quarter-finals in their categories and Adam Sloan performed well in the patterns but missed out on the medals.

The black belts of the club had a very tough weekend, refereeing for over eight hours a day as well as competing against some of the best taekwondo practitioners in the world.

Lianne Hatcher won a notable fourth place in the ladies' lightweight sparring, whilst Clinton Gillett the club senior also got a fourth placing in the patterns.

Martin and Claire Sloan competed superbly in their first international but missed out on the placings. Michaela Gillett the club secretary completed an excellent set of results by coming third in the open ladies' category in an Edinburgh road race.

GTUK England won the event and the ash cloud delayed the Bungay team for 11 hours with the only consolation being that they were interviewed live on the 7am Sky News.

For further details of taekwondo contact Clinton Gillett on 01986 892140 as the club is always ready to recruit eager new students aged from seven plus.