Jr Taekwondo champ sets sights on gold at US Open

On Monday, Jean Maurice Young, one of TT's youngest Taekwondo champions will be competing in the annual G2 US Open Taekwondo Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada with the hopes of bringing home gold and participating in the upcoming Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October.

Despite his age, Young, 15, has already amassed an impressive reputation as one of TT's premier martial artists, having competed in several regional and international tournaments in Taekwondo and winning silver and bronze at tournaments in Aruba and Costa Rica respectively.

Young, a Form Three student of Queen's Royal College, will be participating in the sparring or Poomsae course of the tournament and spoke with Newsday during a training session at the Mucurapo Secondary School recently.

"I'm happy I've been able to make it this far and I'm hoping to just do my best so I can earn a gold medal. I've participared in tournaments in Canada and Costa Rica but nothing on such a large scale before."

Newsday also spoke with Young's instructor or Sam Bum Nim Colin Mofford and said he was confident Young will be able to win a gold medal citing his impressive record at the regional level and said Young's experience would be an asset in the tournament.