On Sunday 5th November 2006 APIIT/UCTI helped taekwondo to take another step forward in making the sport more popular amongst the colleges in Malaysia by initiating the first MAPCU Taekwondo competition. The event was held at the new APIIT Smart School in Subang and attracted teams from ten colleges and university colleges:

• APIIT/UCTI
• Help University College
• International Medical University
• INTI College
• KBU International College
• KDU College
• Monash University Malaysia
• SIT International College
• Sunway University College
• Taylor’s College

A lot of hard work and effort was put into the competition from all areas of APIIT/UCTI from catering and logistics to lecturers and managers, not forgetting the students within the team as well as the student helpers.

It was a very long weekend with helpers preparing the hall on the Saturday afternoon and then with competitors arriving from 8.00am on Sunday and finally after the clean up was complete leaving the school at about 6.45pm. Our thanks go to all of the helpers and to logistics staff.

Once again we have shown that we can organise a successful taekwondo event with one college saying “Thanks for organising this event, we really appreciate it. It’s great that someone thought about taekwondo”.

The event started with the weigh-in from 9.00am, all teams ready and waiting for the competition to begin at 10.00am. Nerves were running high within the APIIT/UCTI team but the club President Lim Yeow Chet did his best to keep the team focused. For some of the team it was to be their first competition, not really knowing what to expect or what the opposition would be like.

It was clear from the beginning that KDU College was going to be the team to beat as they had entered the largest team. Once again the APIIT/UCTI team had to focus on the competition and put all thoughts of the opposing teams out of their minds.

The morning session went well with a number of fighters having some very impressive bouts showing that there is potential within the MAPCU colleges for bigger and better things in the future. By the end of the morning session the first two medals had been decided: gold to INTI College and silver to KDU College in the female fin weight black belt division.

In the afternoon Dr Andy Seddon (Senior Manager Academic Development APIIT/UCTI and taekwondo club advisor) gave a short speech to the participants thanking them for attending and wishing all teams well in the event. Commander Tang, Secretary of MAPCU also gave a short speech in which he commended APIIT/UCTI on hosting the first championship and expressed his thanks to Dr Andy Seddon who had initiated the idea and helped bring to reality. Finally Dr Andy concluded by saying “You aren’t here to listen to long speeches, you are here to compete so lets get back to the competition” which was met with a round of applause.

As the afternoon gathered momentum the medals started to be decided and the overall medal table showed as had been expected that APIIT/UCTI and KDU College were battling to be overall champions. By the end of the sparring it looked inevitable that KDU College would win but the team spirit prevailed in the poomsae (pattern) competition and in the fitness test with everyone putting in all their efforts to bring the trophy home.

At the end of the day the medal ceremony was held for the teams and it was then that the final result was to be announced. At the medal ceremony representatives from the participating colleges were invited to award the medals.

In a competition tighter than the final race of the Formula One championship, it was not until the last medal was decided that the overall champion was revealed. Awarding 3 points for a gold medal, 2 points for a silver medal and 1 point for a bronze medal, the overall medal table was as follows:

The result was announced to a great cheer from APIIT/UCTI with a round of applause from them for their rivals of the day. KDU College were laudable runners up taking the news in good spirit but with the comment “we are going to win it next year”.

The event was enjoyed by all those who attended and showed that APIIT/UCTI were able to start the ball rolling. Next year it will be up to APIIT/UCTI to defend the title, not an easy task but one which the whole team will work hard to achieve.

Although overall this was a team event, it was based on the results of the individuals who brought home their own medals as well as the Championship Trophy. The team consisted of 12 members all managed to bring at least one medal home showing that it was truly a team effort on the day that won APIIT/UCTI the Championship.

The winners were:
Gold Medals

• Cui Hai Guang(Sparring Gold)
• Jonathan Fernandez (Sparring Gold)
• Lim Yeow Chet (Sparring Gold; Poomsae Gold)
• Nor Shazlina (Sparring Gold; Poomsae Gold)
• Tan Ping Ing (Sparring Gold; Poomsae Gold)
• Yao Xin (Sparring Gold)

Silver Medals

• Fenny Chieck (Sparring Silver)
• Isabella Henggie (Sparring Silver)
• Le Anh Tai (Sparring Silver)
• Tan Ping Ing (Fitness Silver)
• Wan Zan Hong (Sparring Silver; Poomsae Silver)

Bronze Medals

• Le Anh Tai (Poomsae Bronze)
• Ong Chun Wei (Sparring Bronze, Poomsae Bronze)
• Ong Lit Yit (Sparring Bronze)
• Yao Xin (Fitness Bronze)

Our helpers on the day were:

• Cheah Kam Weng, our PC scorekeeper for the day
• Chooi Kah Wai, Justin & Helen Jiang Jingchu, our timekeepers
• Wang Xinqi & Tina Song Xiaotong, the bout chart managers
• From the APIIT Smart School thanks also go to Boon Tia from T&I and Vijay and his logistics team.

Final thanks must go to three other people who worked tirelessly to help make the event a success, namely Ms Nadiah Suki (Deputy club advisor), Mr Dennis Warren Daniel (Marketing) and of course Master Tony Lee the club coach. Without their help and support the event would not have taken place and would not have been the success it was.

Roll on next year when we get to defend our title!!