Five of our Team TAYA Black Belts travelled to Melbourne and competed at the Australian Taekwondo Pathway Series 3 Event which also included the Youth Olympic Games Selections for the -49kg Junior Women’s division which was the only quota allocated by the International Olympic Committee to Australia. Competition was held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre at Albert Park on 28 August 2026.
Our 5 Team TAYA Athletes’ results were:
Ayva Soteriou Gold, Senior -57kg
Vasili Soteriou Gold, Junior -73kg
Aarav Menezes Gold, Cadet -37kg
Chelsea Gomez Bronze, Junior -49kg YOG Division Trials
Lachlan MacGowan Bronze, Cadet -49kg
Chelsea Gomez fought for the Youth Olympic Games Selection Event and won her preliminary match and went on to the round robin matches winning 1 of 3 matches but unfortunately missed out on the top spot and placed 3rd overall. Chelsea will now focus on her ongoing transition from Juniors to Seniors for the remainder of the year.
We are very proud and happy of Team TAYA’s overall performance and outstanding results at the NSW State Championships and State Selections this weekend placing second in Kyorugi overall club leaderboard among 29 NSW Clubs that participated at the event.
Our medal tally from 34 athletes who competed at the NSW State Championships are -
15 Golds/NSW State Champions
9 Silvers
9 Bronzes
1 QF
Team TAYA’s happy, supportive, encouraging, strong team culture and family environment makes the team successful, fulfilled, driven to perform and excel.
Congratulations Team TAYA!
Well done to all the Athletes for giving your best.
There were several very close matches with our Silver and Bronze Medallists just missing out to progress further in their divisions.
Some results may not have come their way but we remind them to focus on the many valuable lessons gained from their performances, correct the errors and improve their game going forward.
Team TAYA’s happy, supportive, encouraging, strong team culture and family environment makes the team successful, fulfilled, driven to perform and excel.
Thank you very much to our brilliant and dedicated Coaches and to our loving parents for your love, unwavering support and encouragement ❤️.
So happy and proud of Team TAYA’s achievements and efforts at this NSW’s premier event and looking forward to the Australian National Championships to be held in Canberra in October.
Our Team TAYA Black Belts led by Coach Abby Sangalang travelled to South Korea during the school holidays in pursuit of developmental opportunity to gain more international taekwondo experience in Global-Ranked prestigious events. The tour includes back-to-back competitions - the Korea Open (G2) held on 18-21 July 2026 in Chuncheon and Kimunyong Cup International Open (G1) held on 25-28 July 2026 in Seoul. The tour also included intensive cross training in several Korean middle and high schools for several days.
Our 6 Team TAYA Athletes who are part of our private club tour were:
Ayva Soteriou > Junior -55kg/Senior -53kg
Vasili Soteriou > Junior -73kg
Heleni Moa > Junior -46kg
Kiera Malicdem > Cadet -41kg
Danica De Leon > Cadet -55kg
Aarav Menezes > Cadet -37kg
Chelsea Gomez > is also competing at both events Junior -46kg/Senior -46kg and travelled to Korea as part of the Australian Taekwondo PPP Fighting Futures Team.
Korea Open Results
Aarav Menezes- had fun being part of Team AUS for the teams event with 3 girls from our friends at Martial Arts Spirit placing Bronze. He then competed on his -37kg division but unfortunately bowed down in straight sets with scores of S1: 0-6, S2: 2-6 in his preliminary Round of 32 match to the Uzbekistan opponent who was quite strong and fast.
Danica De Leon – had to move up to the next weight division of -59kg and drew a national team athlete from Kazakhstan losing both sets in the quarterfinals with scores of S1: 2-10, S2: 1-13.
Kiera Malicdem – had been lucky to draw bye in her -41kg division and won her preliminary Round of 16 match against Korea with scores of 9-8, S2: 6-0 and progressed to quarterfinals but sadly lost in a close match against Taipeh with scores of S1: 0-4, S2: 0-2.
Heleni Moa – had fought hard at her first Juniors overseas competition in the higher -49kg division, unfortunately lost in straight sets against Kazakhstan opponent in the Round of 16 match with scores of S1: 1-6, S2: 2-7.
Vasili Soteriou – had been dominant in first set drawing PUN result (5 penalties) and score of 12-9 but sadly lost the next two sets to Russia on his preliminary Round of 16 match with scores of S2: 0-4, S3:1-4.
Ayva Soteriou – had levelled it up against Kazakhstan in both sets at tied scores of 3-3, 2-2 but win went to Kazakhstan in the opening Round of 16 match.
Chelsea Gomez – had a lucky bye and progressed against Taipeh in the quarterfinals but lost in the closely contested match at scores of S1: 0-0, S2: 0-2.
Overall, a fantastic opportunity for our cadets Aarav, Danica, Kiera and junior Heleni at their first actual overseas international competition and first Korea Open and also to Chelsea, Ayva and Vasili to compete once again at Korea Open all gaining valuable experience and exposure.
We are very proud of their gallant efforts, courage, resilience and determination to perform well and fight to the best of their abilities. Korea Open is a fierce competition drawing many international athletes from across the world in all the age categories with surprisingly massive cadet divisions this year.
This trip was very exciting for our developing black belt athletes Heleni, Kiera, Danica and Aarav being their first time to travel to Korea. They enjoyed this wonderful experience, the sights, culinary and cultural diversity of Korea and paid a visit to the Kukkiwon World Taekwondo Headquarters when they returned to Seoul the following week.
Our earnest appreciation and gratitude to Coach Abby for the sole coaching and management of the team on this Korea Tour and for her undying passion, love, care, guidance being given to the athletes. A big thank you also to our team parents specially Mums Ruchi, Hazel and Louella and Aarav’s little brother Tanish who travelled with the team to Korea and Aezil and Liam surprising Chelsea with their presence at the event - all supporting and cheering our athletes courtside.
We wish them all the best at the Kimunyong Cup International Open this coming weekend.
Our Team TAYA Athletes have continued their Korea Tour following on the Chuncheon Korea Open and returned to Seoul for additional intense training sessions with Korean schools and the visiting Mexican Team.
They then competed at the Kimunyong Cup International Open held at Jang Chung Arena from 25-29 July 2026.
Day 1 - Juniors and Cadets
Vasili Soteriou > Junior -73kg, won SF match vs Korea winning in 3 sets (S1: 2-9, S2: 6-2, S3: 21-9) a good recovery from the first set loss and dominated in the third set. Vasili progressed to the Finals against Kazakhstan with a close first set at 0-0 and lost the match with second set at 2-7 and settled for a Silver Medal.
Heleni Moa > Junior -46kg, had a walkover with Sri Lanka withdrawing from the R16 match, then sadly lost to a strong opponent from Thailand in straight sets at S1: 0-5, S2: 0-7.
Danica De Leon > Cadet -59kg, fought Korea in QF in a very close match with scores of S1: 10-10, S2: 2-3.
Kiera Malicdem > Cadet -41kg, QF match was dominated by Korean opponent who was sharp and fast with scores of S1: 2-10, S2: 0-16.
Aarav Menezes > Cadet -37kg, lost QF match to Korea who played a tactical game with scores of S1: 2-10, S2: 0-11.
Our Juniors and Cadets have experienced a high standard of competition at this international event which provided them valuable learning insights that will improve their game as they continue to progress in tactical skills development, better court management, build confidence and resilience.
Day 4 - Seniors G1
Ayva Soteriou > Senior -57kg, rebounded back from a first set loss at 5-9 and ended up winning the R16 match with scores at S2: 6-3, S3: 12-4 against Korea. Ayva then fought hard against the National Team Athlete from Uzbekistan losing in straight set at S1: 6-14, S2: 2-19.
Chelsea Gomez > Senior -46kg, had a bye and progressed straight to SF match against a seasoned athlete from the Philippines who recently won a Bronze Medal at the Asian Championships, settling for Bronze Medal after losing in straight sets at S1: 0-7, S2: 6-12.
Both girls have stepped up to the Seniors Divisions at this international competition as part of their transition from Juniors to begin a new chapter in their taekwondo journey.
We are very proud of our Team TAYA Athletes for their gallant efforts, courage, resilience and determination to perform well at these two international G events and fight to the best of their abilities against strong, tougher, experienced and seasoned world class athletes.
This concludes our Korea Tour over the past two weeks and a half which provided our developing black belt athletes Heleni, Kiera, Danica and Aarav the opportunity to travel to Korea for the first time and together with our advanced athletes Chelsea, Ayva and Vasili to return to Korea and undergo intense training sessions with several Korean schools, compete at the two back-to-back international Global-ranked events and also experience the culinary and cultural diversity of Korea with a visit to the Kukkiwon World Taekwondo Headquarters.
Once again, our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to Coach Abby for single handedly managed and coached the team and extended all the support, care, understanding and empathy to the athletes on this Korea Tour empowering them with self-belief, positive growth mindset, adaptability and sense of achievement.
A massive thank you also to the parents for your support and encouragement with some coming to Korea and cheered our athletes courtside.
Well done to our Team TAYA Athletes and Coaches for a solid performance at the Adidas Combat League NSW Championships Round 2 held at the Penrith Regional Valley Centre on 12 July 2026 earning a top 4 overall ranking among 16 clubs that competed at this event. Our medal tally were as follows:
Gold 6
Silver 5
Bronze 1
TOTAL 12
It was inspiring to see our young grassroots and developing white and colour belt athletes performing at their best and showing growing confidence, resilience and match experience. They had an enjoyable time and strong team bonding.
Thank you to our coaches for your dedication and guidance and to our parents for your unwavering support and encouragement.
Parth not in team photos
