Tech Sport Taekwondo Team Takes Second at ECTC Tournament Sunday
On Sunday, November 22, the MIT Sport Taekwondo team traveled to Princeton University to compete at the third Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (ECTC) tournament of the season. Despite the smaller roster compared to rivals Cornell and Brown, the MIT team, coached by Master Dan Chuang, took second at what was thus far the largest tournament in league history.
The day began with the poomsae (forms) competition. In the red belt division, ZheChen “Mary” Hong ’10 captured silver, while in the blue belt division, Hsinjung “Sophia” Li ’11 and Christine T. Hseuh ’10 won gold and bronze respectively. In the green belt division, Angela N. Chang ’11 walked away with the bronze.
As the day progressed and the sparring competition began, MIT confidently took on their opponents. In the Women’s A-team (advanced) division, MIT A1 (Ranbel F. Sun ’10, Hong, Erika Lee ’12) muscled their way through every match and won the gold for the first time this season. In addition, the Men’s A teams sparred ferociously, led by first-time A team members Ijeoma Emeagwali ’12 and Ryan A. Rosario ’12. The Women’s B-teams continued to excel in their division, with B2 (Shammi S. Quddus ’10, Li, Heejung Kim ’12) taking silver, and B1 (Sun, Hong, Kristina L. Lozoya ’13, Teresa “Ty” Lin ‘12 ‘12) the bronze. On the men’s side, the B1 team (Rosario, Rafael A. Raya ’11, Emeagwali) fought through several tough matches to reach the quarter finals. Even in the C-team (beginner) division, MIT demonstrated their skills as the Women’s C1 team (Stephanie P. Chen ’12, Xuan Yang ’13, Mengfei Yang ’12) fought their way to second place.
Even though MIT finished second, there are still two tournaments left in the season. The Engineers will continue their journey to the ECTC championship in three months at West Point.