Talented East Durham College student Simone Abley has achieved the silver medal in the female welterweight division at the European Universities Taekwondo Championships held in Zagreb, capital of Croatia.
Coached by Scott Abley, at the start of the competition Simone was one of 1,400 athletes taking part from over 400 universities and progressed into the 28 qualifying athletes at the Student National Taekwondo Championships in March. The 28 students representing 22 GB universities and colleges flew out to Zagreb for the European Universities Taekwondo Championships.
In the recent competition, Simone won the quarter finals against Croatia 19-0, came out on top in the semi-finals against Croatia, again, with 9-2 and lost the final against Portugal with a result of 7-3. East Durham College would like to congratulate Simone for her outstanding achievement, we can only anticipate the future successes Simone will go onto achieve.
Speaking about her victory, Simone said: "During the lead up to the competition my preparation went well. When I was competing I felt confident and ready, I did all the hard work so all I had to do was fight. All my performances were the best I have been in a while and it felt good to get my first senior international medal at a major championship."
This victory is one of many for Simone, representing Great Britain since 2013 she has won various titles over the years, including bronze medallist at the Under 21 European championships last year. As a Business Student at East Durham College, studying under the current Level 3 BTEC Peter Jones Enterprise Academy course -that prepares young people aiming to pursue a career as an entrepreneur- she is involved in teaching Taekwondo alongside her brother, Scott. Launched in 2016, Salamander Taekwondo is the pairs’ high-quality teaching venture providing Taekwondo training to local communities in Tow Law, Consett, Middlestone Moore and Newcastle University.
