Well done Team TAYA on their admirable performances at the Australian Open held at the Gold Coast on 20-21 June 2026. Following on the tough back-to-back matches at the World Taekwondo Oceania President's Cup, our Senior, Junior and Cadet athletes have stepped up two days later to another G-ranked event at the Australian Open which saw many international competitors coming from several countries.
It was great to see our Team TAYA athletes facing another set of challenges head on, showing improvement in their matches, growing confidence, resilience and maturity and working as one strong united happy team.
A big thank you to our dedicated coaches for your constant guidance and our loving parents for your encouragement.
Our team results are as follows:
Gold - Vasili Soteriou, Juniors -73kg
Silver - Diego Querubin, Juniors -51kg
Silver - Heleni Moa, Juniors -49kg
Silver - Aarav Menezes, Cadet -37kg
Bronze - Kiaan Para, Juniors -45kg
Bronze - Kiera Malicdem Cadets -41kg
Bronze - Danica De Leon Cadets -59kg
Quarterfinals - Chelsea Gomez Seniors -46kgm (not in team photo)
Round of 16 - Sofia Querubin Seniors -53kg
Round of 16 - Ayva Soteriou Seniors -57kg
Chelsea won her Round of 16 match vs Japan and lost in the closely contested quarterfinals against another Japanese opponent.
Sofia had a tough Round of 16 match against Chinese Taipeh.
Ayva showed grit in her inaugural Seniors match on this G2 event pushing Hong Kong opponent in a third set.
Vasili backed up his back-to-back success to win another gold at the Australian Open winning both his matches in a dominant fashion.
Diego fought even with an injured foot sustained from the previous Oceania event and dominated his first two matches against Japan and Australia but unable to continue to fight the finals against his Australian opponent.
Heleni fought strongly against Papua New Guinea and lost the finals in a close match against the top Australian national team member.
Kiaan also pushed Australian opponent in a third set on his semi finals match.
Aarav had 3 matches winning dominantly against New Zealand and Australia but lost to Japanese competitor who won both the events.
Kiera fought well against New Zealand in her preliminary match but lost to her Australian opponent in the semi-finals.
Danica went up to the next division and valiantly fought a much taller opponent from French Polynesia.
Congratulations everyone!!! We are very proud of your performances, hard work and efforts and applaud you on your commitment, perseverance and fighting spirit.
