Zack Sarsoza
It is a family affair at Kixstar Dragon taekwondo club in Haldane Road as the Sarsoza clan continue to leave their mark on the sport.
The youngest member of the family, Zack Sarsoza made it three gold medals in as many weeks after securing his place at the top of the podium in the Latvian Open.
And he doesn’t plan to stop there. The Fulham fighter now has his eyes set on a fourth gold medal at the upcoming Croatian Open in November.
Mum, Donna, and dad and trainer Saimoore will be in two minds about any promises they make before the tournament.
They agreed to buy Zack a video game if he won his first competition. But the 13-year-old went TWO better so the Fulham parents had no choice but to splash out and gift Zack a brand new smartphone on his return to H&F.
“It was a great feeling winning a third gold medal. I want to thank my dad and the rest of my family for all their support and an amazing gift too,” said the former St Thomas of Canterbury School student. “I cannot wait to fight again and represent my club in Europe. Hopefully I can win a fourth gold medal in Croatia.”
Zack dominated the final in Riga after bombarding home favourite Vitalijs Ivanovs with a barrage of back, axe and flying kicks to win 24-2 on points.
Dad’s first international
Dad, Saimoore, a 4th Dan black belt, just got back from the European Cadet Championships in Budapest with two of his Kixstar Dragon fighters – Marvin Sabutanan, 12, and Enrikas Luckauskas, 12 – who represented Great Britain but unfortunately came home empty-handed. This was Saimoore’s first tournament as a GB coach.
Meanwhile, daughter Shayanne, 16, will have the honour of leading out one of the top international contenders at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in London this weekend.
This is the first time an international taekwondo event has been held in the capital since the 2012 Olympic Games.
Shayanne earned a silver medal in Latvia after the two-times H&F Junior Sports Personality of the Year winner comprehensively beat Yuliya Biaroza from the Belarusian National team in the minus 46kg category but did not have enough to overcome Kristina Kizenok of Russia in the final.
H&F mum strikes gold
Meanwhile, mother-of-three Ramzia Hamidi secured a gold medal in her first ever taekwondo tournament after taking up the sport just three months ago.
The Wendell Park resident came out on top in the minus 67kg division at the National Championships in Manchester and plans to fight again in December.
She joined the London Taekwondo Academy where her son Mohamad Yusuf Shaker, 7, also trains after he finishes school at Wendell Park Primary School.
When Ramzia is not training hard for competitions, she is a full-time carer for her husband Shaz.
