Pound rises back to top

A Holbeach martial artist has been selected to compete for the United Kingdom at the European Tae Kwondo Championships in July.

Graham Pound, of the Lone Wolf Tae Kwondo Club, qualified as an individual and is also in the selection process for a place in the team event.
He said: “We took a team to compete at the Nationals and came away with two British champions and I was selected for finals day.
“Finals day is an event where you compete to get a place on Team UK.
“I have the first session on April 27 in London. It will be three or four sessions before the teams are decided but my individual space is safe regardless.”
It is a return to familiar territory for Pound, who won the European Championships in 2006 then competed in the World Championships in 2007 as an individual and in the boys team.
“That was the last time I competed,” said Pound. “I only decided to compete again to set an example to my current students; show them that it’s all about taking part and enjoying the process.
“I didn’t expect for a minute that I would be seeded second in the UK.
“I’m excited to train with the best in the country, it can only benefit me as a competitor and a coach.
“I’ve not long graded, which meant all the patterns I had to perform were new to me. It felt completely different as an adult. I was so hardened to competition as a child that by the time I got to the Europeans and the Worlds, it felt like any other training day.
“Stepping back into the floor after such a long period was scary but it was a fantastic feeling when the judge’s decisions started going my way.”
Pound hopes that his success will serve as inspiration for his students at the Holbeach club.
“Two of them are already ranked as No.1 in the UK for their divisions,” he added.