Instructor Corinne Leahy retained the National Champion title in senior women’s sparring division and Christian Sirre took out the national title in 10th to fifth Kup patterns.

Sirre’s twin eight-year-old sons Jack and Justin almost made it a family affair when they narrowly missed out on national titles in the 10th to fifth Kup junior patterns.

The pair received silver and bronze respectively.

In addition, Justin Sirre also received bronze in junior boys sparring, Leahy received bronze in special technique (flying kicks), and Christian Sirre won silver in sparring and bronze in power breaking.

Leahy said the results were all the more remarkable considering the size of the tournament and the size of Stawell.

“This was far and away the biggest tournament our club has competed in,” Leahy said.

“There were over 200 competitors coming from Western Australia, Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand.

“The junior boys division was the largest of all, so to have two of our students compete so successfully is a fantastic achievement.”

Il Shim Taekwondo placed ninth on the overall leader board, beating much larger clubs from Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

As the club grows in numbers Leahy hopes to have even more students competing in both local and interstate tournaments throughout the new year.

“I think we’ve shown that you don’t have to train in a city to be competitive,” she said.

“If you work hard and take every opportunity to learn and compete good results will follow."

ll Shim Taekwondo Stawell train at 6pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Stawell Primary School gymnasium.

New members are welcome to come and try, and can phone Corinne on 0409334800 should they have any queries or require more information.