It was wonderful to see our TEAM TAYA high performance athletes step up to the challenges and performed well at the 2026 Dutch Open which is one of the most prestigious world class G2 event in the World Taekwondo calendar held at the Indoor Sportcentrum Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The two-day event saw the best athletes across Europe and visiting athletes from Asia, North America and Australia compete at the highest level. Our Team TAYA Athletes joined a large Australian Team contingent as part of the Europe Tour of the Australian Taekwondo Performance Pathway Program for the Fighting Futures Squad covering a period of two weeks from 11-24 March 2026.
We are also happy to share that our Senior Instructor and High Performance Coach Ms Abby Sangalang was appointed as one of the Coaches for this Fighting Futures Europe Tour. Ms Abby has been part of the Coaching Staff for all the Australian PPP/FF Teams in previous Europe (2023), North American (2024) and Korea (2025) Tours over the last 4 years in her role as NSW PPP Coach which she has held since 2021.
They were joined by TEAM TAYA Athletes Vasili Soteriou and Mia Er at their first international G-ranked event as first year Juniors and will further provide them with high level competition experience following the World Cadet Championships where they represented Australia and at the Korea Open last year.
TEAM TAYA'S Results were as follows:
Day 1 - March 14 Saturday - Juniors and Cadets
We are very proud of TEAM TAYA's results and growing confidence, maturity and dedication towards sporting excellence.
This experience will help them on their continuing development as high performance athletes and preparations for the upcoming events such as the World Junior Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 12-17 April 2026 where Chelsea, Ayva and Diego will have the honour to represent Australia and the Oceania Championships from 28-29 March 2026 in Sydney, Australia where Sofia and Chelsea will fight as part of the Australian Senior National Team and Diego, Vasili, Mia have qualified to compete in the Juniors Categories.
Onward and upwards with next stop the following week at the 2026 Belgium Open at Arena De Soeverein in Lommel, Belgium.
It is with pride and joy that we share the happy news of the selection of 4 of our TEAM TAYA Athletes into the Australian Taekwondo Performance Pathway Fighting Futures Program:
This is a fantastic recognition of their dedication, commitment to excellence and continued progression within the Performance Pathway Program.
Following their individual successes at the recent Australian National Team Selections for the 2026 World Junior Championships and 2026 Oceania Championships where all of them fought hard in multiple matches to win their divisions and made the Australian National Team, this latest announcement is another incredible achievement and a proud moment for TAYA TAEKWONDO.
The Fighting Futures Program has been designed to provide selected athletes with valuable development opportunities, providing exposure to high level G-ranked international competition and training environments that support their current stage of progression within the pathway and ongoing performance growth and preparation for future major events. Funding contributions are provided to assist with athlete development and ensure they benefit from these opportunities. The upcoming European Tour will be the first official international tour for the Australian Fighting Futures Team for this year and will include participation in:
We wish them well in their further development and progress within the performance pathway program to complement their current club training regimen at TAYA TAEKWONDO.
Australian Team Selections for the World Junior Championships and Oceania Championships
Pathway Series - Development Competition for 10-11 years old Black and Red Belt Cho Dan Bo
Whitlam Leisure Centre
7-8 February 2026
Team TAYA achieved a strong outcome over the weekend with our 5 Junior Athletes fighting through tough preliminary and round robin matches at the Selections. 3 of our Junior Athletes Diego, Ayva, Chelsea at their last year of Juniors have fought strongly, showed resilience, dominance, excellent technical and tactical skills and earned their spots in the Australian Team for the World Junior Championships which will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Our two new Juniors have transitioned to their first Junior matches where Vasili fought his way to a Silver medal finish after 4 matches and Mia settled for Bronze in two matches on Day 1.
Day 2 saw Sofia and Chelsea both winning Gold in the Oceania Championships Australian Team Selections each fighting 5 and 3 matches in the Seniors division. Sofia did not drop a set and won all 5 matches in straight sets while Chelsea transitioning to Seniors for the Oceania Championships fought hard in 3 matches. Ayva also transitioned to Seniors and fought in 3 matches at her first Seniors competition in the higher -57kg division and earned a Silver medal. Our cadets also fought hard with Aarav getting Silver after 4 matches in a division of 10, Lachlan settling for Bronze after 5 matches in a big division of 13 and Kiera fought in the higher -41kg division unfortunately losing her QF match.
Overall, we have 3 Athletes who made World Junior Championships Team, the highest number from all the other clubs/teams at the Selections.
For the Oceania Championships Team, we have 2 Senior Athletes who made the Australian Team while our 5 semi finalists in the Juniors and Cadet divisions are eligible to compete in the Oceania Championships.
Summary of our team results are as follows:
World Juniors Championships
Team TAYA had the highest number of athletes x 3 who won and earned their spot on the Australian Team to compete at the World Junior Championships
Diego Querubin – Gold, -48kg division
Ayva Soteriou – Gold -52kg division
Chelsea Gomez – Gold -44kg division
Vasili Soteriou – Silver -73kg division
Mia Er – Bronze -42kg division
Oceania Championships
Team TAYA had 2 Athletes winning Gold on Day 2 with total of 7 athletes who won eligibility for the Oceania Championships including the Juniors who fought on Day 1
Sofia Querubin – Gold, Senior -53kg division
Chelsea Gomez – Gold, Senior -46kg division
Diego Querubin – Gold, Junior -48kg division
Ayva Soteriou – Silver, Senior -57kg division
Vasili Soteriou – Silver, Junior -73kg division
Mia Er – Bronze, Junior -42kg division
Aarav Menezes – Silver, Cadet -37kg division
Lachlan MacGowan – Silver, Cadet -45kg division
Kiera Malicdem – QF, Cadet -41kg division
It was exciting to see Chelsea and Ayva stepped up and transition to Seniors Divisions for the Oceania Championships Selections.
As new Senior Athletes, Chelsea and Ayva will start to earn global ranking points this year when they compete in G-events.
Pathway Development Competition (only for 10-11 year old Black Belt/Red Belt Cho Dan Bo)
Max Wang – Silver, Youth -34kg division
Max won his preliminary match with both sets in point gap but faced a more experienced Black Belt at the finals.
This is not the first time our Team TAYA Athletes have been part of the Australian National Team for the World Championships. The Selections this weekend marked several participations over the previous years:
Chelsea is at her 4th WC - 2022 Cadets, 2023 Cadets, 2024 Juniors, 2026 Juniors
Sofia had 2 WC - 2022 Juniors where she reached QF and lost to eventual champion and 2024 Paris Olympics Bronze Medallist Mobina Nematzadeh, 2025 Inaugural Under 21
Diego is at his 2nd WC - 2022 Cadets, 2026 Juniors
Ayva is at her 2nd WC - 2024 Juniors, 2026 Juniors
Vasili had 1 WC - 2025 Cadets
Mia had 1 WC - 2025 Cadets
We are very proud and happy of the Team TAYA's results. Their hard work, perseverance, commitment and developing high performance behaviours have truly paid off.
Massive thank you to Ms Abby Sangalang for the Summer Training Camp which greatly assisted our athletes with their preparations for the Selections.
We also thank our Coaches Ms Natalia Sangalang, Sir Ed Sangalang and Ms Abby Sangalang for their fantastic team work, brilliant coaching and guidance not only at the Selections but throughout the taekwondo journey of our Team TAYA Athletes instilling strong character building, positive growth mindset, hard work and pursuit of excellence.
GOLD MEDAL – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Diego Querubin – Black Belt Junior -48kg
Vasili Soteriou – Black Belt Cadet +65kg
Kiera Malicdem – Black Belt Cadet -37kg
Mason Fryirs – Red Belt Cadet -37kg
SILVER MEDAL
Chelsea Gomez – Black Belt Junior -49kg
Ayva Soteriou – Black Belt Junior -59kg
Layla Malicdem – Red Belt Youth 10-11yo -34kg
BRONZE MEDAL
Sofia Querubin – Black Belt Senior -53kg
Berkay Dogan – Black Belt Senior -54kg
Ayaan Shetty – Black Belt Junior -45kg
Mia Er – Black Belt Cadet -41kg
Aarav Menezes – Black Belt Cadet -37kg
Max Wang – Red Belt Youth 10-11yo -31kg
PARTICIPATED
Alec MacGowan – Black Belt Junior -59kg
Lachlan MacGowan – Black Belt Cadet -41kg
Joshua Harb – Black Belt Cadet -37kg
Kiaan Para – Black Belt Cadet -41kg
Danica De Leon – Black Belt Cadet -55kg
Ava Boshell – Red Belt Cadet -51kg
Keona Shrestha – Blue Belt Cadet -55kg
Kaeden Shrestha – Blue Belt Youth 8-9yo -25kg
Yuvraj Makkar – Blue Belt Youth 8-9yo -31kg (not in photo)
Ayva Soteriou teamed up with Sammy Blewitt from Spirit NSW and Annabel Lynch from Relentless WA and fought their way to 3rd Place in the Juniors Girls 3x3 Inaugural Team Event.
