| British Representative elected to European Taekwondo Union A-Class Committee as dates unveiled for 2010 British Open |
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British Taekwondo has received a double boost with the news that Andrew Link, Operations Director of Sport Taekwondo UK Ltd, has been appointed as Chairman of the newly formed ETU Events Committee, while dates for the 2010 British Open, which is backed by UK Sport and Manchester City Council, have also been announced with the event set to take place from 30th -31st October 2010. The British Open, which was only formed last year and has already been granted world-ranking status, and will join nine other ETU A-class rated tournaments on the 2010 calendar and further establish Britain as one of the pre-eminent taekwondo nations in the world.
The decision to form the A-class events committee was taken at the recent European Junior Taekwondo Championships in May. Andrew Link will be supported in his role as Chairman by Mr Jesus Tortosa, Technical Director Spain, Mr. Steve Grommen, President Belgian Taekwondo Federation and Mr. Sacha Zimmerman, Sport Director German Taekwondo Federation. The committee will represent the best interests of the events programme in European including A-Class tournaments and European and Olympic Qualification Championships. Ben Calveley, Head of International Relations at UK Sport, said, 'Andrew’s appointment as the Chair of the ETU event committee is a good step forward for the aspirations of the sport both nationally and internationally. We look forward to another successful British Open this year which will attract the top taekwondo players from around the world in the build up to the World Championships in October.' Sakis Pragalos, President of the European Taekwondo Union, said ‘the creation of this Committee is in recognition of the important part that major events play in the development of the sport globally. The tournament circuit in Europe has perhaps the strongest heritage of Open Taekwondo events in the world and we are delighted that Andrew will Chair this Committee with the support of the three very experienced individuals to look how to develop European events further in the interests of the sport as a whole.' Andrew Link , Operations Director of Sport Taekwondo UK and Chairman of the ETU A-class committee said, “It’s a great honour to be asked to sit on the committee and is testament to the great rise in strength of Taekwondo in Britain in recent years.“We have excelled in both performance and in staging world class events and this has all been made possible through the fantastic support from the sport and also the likes of UK Sport and Manchester City Council. “The fact we now have top level status and dates set in place for the 2010 British Open means we can start work to ensure that we continue to put on a world class event and attract the very best athletes in the world”. With the 2009 British Open (29-30 August) giving athletes the chance to gain vital match practice with the new electronic scoring system which will be in use in October’s World Championships, a bumper entry is expected from many of the leading countries in the world. Tickets are still available for the 2009 British Open and can be purchased through the official online outlet www.quaytickets.com or by calling the ticket line on 0844 8154866. 2010 ETU A-class tournaments are scheduled as follows: 6 - 7 February Swedish Open
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