Tahya shakes off injury to represent GB in Rhodes

Hucknall teenager Tahya Fells has shaken off a nasty injury to be selected for Great Britain at the World Beach Taekwondo Championships in Rhodes later this month.

The 14-year-old National C of E Academy student suffered a cracked coccyx, but has battled on to regain her fitness to be selected for international duty at this level for the first time.

Tahya, who trains at Kang Han in Hucknall under Grand Master Lennox, has represented Great Britain for the last three years, since she became old enough to be considered for selection.

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This time she has been selected for both U17 Individual and Pair, which is a first for Tahya as it’s the first year she has been old enough to be considered for selection for this event.

Dad Paul said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for Tahya.

“She fell whilst out with friends at the park, cracking her coccyx, and is under the hospital.

“She had to reduce her training for five months and only just began increasing her training.

“But, despite the injury, Tahya has not let this stop her from training or competing.

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“She has competed in several events for her selection in her new U17 category and successfully medalled at all the events in her new category, including receiving GB Player of the Tournament in Portugal, where Tahya competed ‘up’ a category against world class players and secured a bronze individual and silver team, which was an outstanding result for Tahya.

“As a result of Tahya’s determination and effort to not allow her injury to stop her, she has been picked for Rhodes and she is extremely pleased with her selection and excited for the competition.”

Tahya has previously been selected for two European Championships in 2015 and 2017, winning a bronze in 2015, and in 2016 Tahya was selected for the World Championships.

Tahya competed in Portugal while injured, after minimal training and in a higher category U17, while still an U14 herself and won bronze and GB Female of the Tournament

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The National Championships in December again saw her in an older category and she won two golds and a bronze

In France in January at U17 level she made the semi-final and also won a bronze, but a month later it was decided to withdraw from going to Germany due to her injury.

Tahya then competed in a domestic competition in Harrogate to test her injury in February and came home with two golds.

“Tahya trains extremely hard to achieve her full potential at Kang Han Martial Arts Centre, with Grand Master Lennox, whilst still keeping up with her school work and achieving at school also,” added Paul.

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“We are extremely proud of her but we would like to reach out for any company, who might be interested in sponsoring Tahya.

“These opportunities and the privilege to represent Great Britain comes at a cost to the family, as all the competitions are self-funded, which makes it very difficult to choose the competitions we can send Tahya.

“We do fund raise to help Tahya to get to these competitions but it would be fantastic to secure some sponsorship to help with the costs.”

Anyone who could help is asked to call 07480 269451.