Manx Taekwondo’s Nino Ontoy returned for the British Nationals with three medals - two of them gold - in Worcester recently.

After missing two years because of Covid restrictions, British Taekwondo was delighted to once again host the Poomsae National Championship featuring Poomsae, Para-Poomsae and freestyle divisions.

The highlight of the domestic Poomsae competition year took place at the Severn Campus in Worcester University, involving no fewer than 241 competitors from five countries in a total of 37 teams, in addition to 37 officials.

Ontoy was the only representative from the Isle of Man, ranked British Taekwondo’s Poomsae No.1 under-17.

His last competition was the Online 2020 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championship (Open), a year ago last month.

He entered the court at the semi-final stage with all his nerves running haywire. This was perhaps because he had less exposure against four of the top competitors who had already performed with a high average score of 7.24.

He did well on his first pattern with a score of 7.27, but slipped a bit on his second with a score of 7.16 to place him second with an average of 7.22.

As the competition became even more tense entering the finals, there was a very tight difference of 0.02 covering first, second and third.

The pressure built up when the third-placed competitor achieved a remarkably high average score of 7.39.

In response, Nino produced a very impressive performance with a personal best 7.61 score on his first pattern, followed by 7.43 on the second for an average score of 7.52.

That pb score proved unbeatable, landing him the gold medal, once again earning the title as the comeback kid.

It is an incredibly special medal to him as it was his ambition this year having lost the title as British National Poomsae Champion in 2019. Not only that, it was his first medal after two years of Covid restrictions and a first under his new division for under-17s.

Things got even better for the Manx teenager when he won another gold medal in the under-17 team event with GB team-mates Alfie Harper (Aspire Taekwondo) and Oakley Wright (National Taekwondo Club).

To round off a highly successful weekend, he added a bronze medal in the under-17 pairs with Tasha Wilson of Scotland (Central Taekwondo Academy).

Overall it was an exceptional event for him and Manx Taekwondo Club as the sole island representative in the competition, achieving two gold and one bronze medal.

Nino would like to thank his parents for supporting his emotional and financial needs, in particular his father, Dom Ontoy, for being his coach/trainer. He and his parents wish to thank Master Samuel Kim, Master Rod Nielsen and the GB coaches, particularly Master Chi Lai, for all the help and support.

Finally, Steve Green, duty officer at the National Sports Centre in Douglas for the use of the facilities for his training leading up to the competition.

l Manx Taekwondo welcomes new members - both adults and children. Contact Rod Nielsen on 436181, email [email protected] or visit Manx Taekwondo on Facebook to find out more.