For the second year running, Oxford was victorious at the Tae Kwon-Do Varsity Match. The annual contest, which took place in Cambridge last Saturday, was a truly spectacular display of martial arts sparring. Each squad consisted of Men’s A, Women’s A, Men’s B and Men’s C teams, with individual fights taking place between members of each team. Each winning team contributed points to the overall score.
OUTKD had put forward the strongest Varsity Squad in recent years, with twelve Black Belts and four international standard competitors. The competition for the squad was so fierce that even the Men’s C team members all had previous Varsity experience. Going into the match expectations were high, the only danger to Oxford’s chances was complacency. Fortunately this was avoided and, despite strong Cambridge opposition, the Dark Blue fighters came through to dominate the competition.
The Oxford Squad, as a whole, displayed a higher level of skill right from the start, scoring a perfect victory in the Men’s C team category by winning every fight. The C Team win did not contribute to the overall score but the psychological advantage it had given Oxford was nothing short of awesome. The crowd, which can only be described as partisan, was silenced, as they realised the task which the Light Blues had on their hands.
The Men’s B team matches followed, which ended in a close win for Cambridge due to a disputed disqualification for the Oxford fighter, Romano Tartivita, whose powerful punches were too overwhelming for the Cambridge fighter and deemed “excessive” by the referee. The decision was marginal, and Tartivita can feel rightly aggrieved that he was robbed of what looked to be a certain victory, the inability of his opponent to provide any defence having more to do with the decision than the aggression which the Oxford fighter showed.
After this minor setback it was time for the all-conquering, all-Black-Belt Oxford Women’s Squad, who had been the pride of OUTKD all year, bringing home nine medals between the six of them at the UK Open. They also had valuable experience of winning at Cambridge, having dominated the Cambridge Open Championships. Unfortunately, Cambridge was unable to field a Women’s B, nor a full Women’s A team this year and only two fights took place in the Women’s A category, both of which the Oxford women, Valentina Iotchkova and Alice Gardner, won with comfort and style. A particularly noteworthy fight was that of the Cambridge Women’s Captain against Iotchkova. The Dark Blue fighter, who is currently one of Oxford’s England Squad members, did not concede a single point. On reflection, it was probably a good thing that Cambridge were unable to field a more extensive women’s team, as the one-sided nature of the two contests which took place firmly confirmed the dominance of the Oxford women.
At the end of the Women’s A match, the overall score was 2-1 to Oxford with the Women’s Shield in the bag. There could not have been more excitement from the crowd as the Men’s A team geared up for their match. These fights were no doubt the highlight of the day, with both teams’ presidents, captains and Cambridge’s Lithuanian heavyweight international fighting it out for the remaining Men’s and Overall shields. After having had very little to cheer about all day, the crowd became more and more vocal, urging their team on to greater efforts.
The first three matches gave Oxford a 2-1 lead, with the OUTKD Men’s Captain Nathan Ewin winning his match against his Cambridge counterpart and the UK Open Silver Medallist Patrick Wills nearly knocking his opponent out with fierce blows to the head, which surprisingly did not earn him a disqualification, the referee perhaps sensing the added importance of this contest. In the end, it all came down to the grudge match between the Oxford President, Adam Park, and Cambridge’s international competitor from Lithuania, who had a 20kg weight advantage and had previously won the match between the two at the Cambridge Open Heavyweight final back in November.
Tension was running high and the fighters spent a good half of the first round measuring each other’s movements and strategies. The first round ended with the Cambridge fighter several points ahead but the Oxford fighter had been more reserved and had more techniques hidden up his sleeve than his opponent had thought. The Cambridge fighter soon became tired and his movements sluggish whilst Park picked up his pace and overturned the scores in the last minute to finally win with fast back-kicks in the air and an impressive hook-kick, side-kick combination to the face which dazed his opponent and cause him to stumble and call time-out.
The disappoint of the Cambridge support was tangible, in stark contrast to the jubilation of the Oxford camp. After going in strong favourites, they had not only walked away with an emphatic win, but, disregarding the contentious Men’s B result, had proved themselves to be the better side at all levels. The performance of Park was particularly gratifying, and the settling of his personal score simply added to the feeling of elation.
With many of the fighters returning next year, Oxford can be hopeful of extending their run in this match. Cambridge meanwhile, will be left ponder where they should go from here. From this showing, they are a long way behind their Dark Blue counterparts, especially in the women’s competition. The dust can be expected to gather on the silverware; it will be in Oxford for a while.
Dominant Blues floor Cambridge
