Croydon:
The National Championships - Recollections of the day from Croydon Instructor, Nick Evagorou
June 2002

The Tang Sou Dao National Championships 2002 has yet again proven to be a successful event and it was a pleasure to see lots of new faces and to see one or two more new clubs take part.

Croydon branch, which only started back in September 2001, was proud to attend its first Championships. The group of 8 who entered consisted of all ages from 7 years to 48 years of age and it is with pleasure to announce that these competitors won a total of 9 medals.

Nick Evagorou and championship participants from Croydon

As the Instructor of the Croydon club I am extremely proud of how my students showed great determination and spirit and to see them, one by one, go up to collect their medal was an uplifting experience.

The students achieved the following: 1st place in forms and 3rd place in sparring; 2nd place in sparring; 1st place in forms; 3rd place in forms and 1st place in sparring.
Including: Barry Kennedy (7th Ji), age 29 who won 2nd place in sparring and Panayiotis Evagorou (7th Ji), age 48 who won 1st place in forms.

With the great success of my students I as a competitor couldn't let them down so I fought hard and achieved 1st place in my sparring event which rounded off a truly great day for the Croydon branch. Some felt they could have done even better but I said, "Hey, save it for next year!"

But joking aside, my students and I would like to thank the organisers for an enjoyable day and to thank Grandmaster Loke for his gratitude and encouragement to all who took part. We all at Croydon feel honoured to be part of a prestigious martial art academy and privileged to be able to help the Tang Sou Dao Family grow.

Tang Sou!!

Article By Nick Evagorou, 1st Duan

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