Medal glory for Fulham teen

Tuesday March 2, 2010

Brazil in 2016 beckons for a young Fulham tae kwon do fighter who already has a national championship under his belt.

Humoon Afsardeir, 13, who attends Hurlingham and Chelsea School and trains at Gurumu tae kwon do in Fulham, clinched a gold medal in the British Tae Kwon Do Control Board national championships in Manchester last month.

The win, which involved four fights of three rounds each, makes Humoon the British champion in his under 33kg weight category.

"It was quite hard and I was pretty shocked by the standard of fighters, because last year it was not as good, but Britain has obviously improved in tae kwon do," he said.

"I feel quite good because it makes me British number one in my weight category."

Humoon began training in tae kwon do at the tender age of seven and has been based at the hugely successful Gurumu team, in the Lillie Road fitness centre, for the past three and a half years.

Under the guidance of coach Sivakumar Renganathan, the young fighter has consistently added to his haul of medals, a collection that currently stands at 17 - including 10 gold.

"I like the commitment, discipline and skill of tae kwon do," Humoon said. "I go to competitions and I see that other clubs are not as prepared as us. We are always prepared and I have a very good coach."

Despite his new national title, the modest youngster is keeping his feet firmly on the ground and is focusing on building experience rather than filling his medal cabinet.

"My greatest achievement was when I went to training camp for the British national team and I got selected to go to the 3rd European cadet championships in Croatia last July," he said. "For my age group that's the biggest tae kwon do competition in Europe. It was a really good experience."

Humoon's school sports teacher, Renny Bisson, said: "Humoon has made Hurlingham and Chelsea very proud. He has a very good attitude to sports and he's very well-mannered.

"If he continues like this, he will probably represent Britain - and London - in the Olympics one day."

While it would be a fairytale scenario for Humoon to compete in his home city in 2012, the young fighter said the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro were a more realistic target.

"I think I could get there in time," he said. "Our team has an elite fighting team who help us get up to the right level.

"So far I feel confident but I know there is always a better fighter than me. And I need to be prepared for when they are standing in front of me."

Gurumu runs classes in both east and west London and about 60 members, aged four to 48, train out of the west London programme at the Lillie Road Fitness Centre and Fulham Centre, both in Lillie Road.