Team St. Maarten won six gold and one silver medal at the 30th Puerto Rico International Taekwondo Championship. A total of 419 taekwondo athletes representing host Puerto Rico, U.S.A., and Team St. Maarten under the watchful eye of Grandmaster Theo Liu of the King Yen Taekwondo School.
Rique-Lee Rosalia age 10 took gold in both forms and sparring. Shailen James and Gunesh Natram, both age 11 also won two golds each, taking first in their group in both forms and sparring
The oldest member of the team Shekinah Carbon age 17, earned a silver medal.
“We put St. Maarten again on the world map of Taekwondo,” beamed Grandmaster Liu. He continued, “we were filmed and shown on Puerto Rico Television.”
The competition was organized by the Puerto Rico Taekwondo Federation under the auspices of the Panamerican Taekwondo Union (PATU.
“The organizers were excited to see St Maarten back after the Covid pandemic.” Most important said the Grandmaster “Our athletes learn a lot, especially the changes in the international rules and scoring of points.”
“We also receive many invitations from several countries to attend their tournaments.”
The trip was made possible with the help of sponsors AVIS, Nagico Insurances N.V., Oriental Caribbean Insurances (OCI, Group of companies St.Maarten Shipping N.V., and St. Maarten Airways.