Young champ gets his kicks

By Jarrod Potter
TAEKWONDO talent runs in the veins of Brad Tovey, who has just won an Australian championship.
Tovey, 17, from Upper Beaconsfield, won the flyweight (54kg-58kg) title at the Taekwondo Australian National Championships in Canberra.
Tovey, who trains with Evolution Taekwondo in Narre Warren, defeated Beau Lang in his first match and Hank Ung in the final.
“In the first fight, because I knew the guy was quite skilled, I didn’t want to let him get too many bodyshots in,” Tovey said.
“So I just went for a few bodyshots and tried to close the fight down and not let him score.
“Hank Ung, who has been around a long time, is a taller guy, so I knew he could kick; I tried a few head kicks and scored quite a few shots there and tried a few turning kicks and I won that one 14-4, so it was a bit easier.
“It was the first time I’ve been in the men’s division at the nationals, so I was kind of lucky to win that.”
Tovey added the national flyweight championship to his under-17 Gold Coast Open tournament win earlier this year. He also made the quarter finals of the Malaysian Open in 2009.
Tovey’s plans for the future are as high as his kicks, wanting to participate in the taekwondo world championships and the Olympics, provided taekwondo is still an Olympic sport.
“I would like to go to the world championships in three or four years,” Tovey said. “If taekwondo’s still in the Olympics, it’s kind of iffy at the moment, I’d love to go there too.”
Taekwondo matches are decided on a points system, whereby one point is awarded for a body kick or body punch if the opponent is knocked over. Two points are awarded for a turning kick to the body, three points for a head kick and four points for a turning head kick.