De Silva Taekwondo athletes win more medals at Dolomite Italian Open

Shane O’ Rourke and Ben Halpin have won more medals at this year’s Dolomite Italian Open. The pair have enjoyed a great 2016, and have added to their impressive medal haul at one of the last major tournaments of the year. Calvin Thomas also returned from injury to take part in his first international competition for two years.

The tournament, which took place in Legnano, Milan on 12 November, welcomed international taekwondo athletes from all over Europe. Shane added a silver to his 2016 medal collection, which includes a bronze at the ITF World Cup, two silvers at the Holland Cup, a silver at the ITA Dublin Open, gold at the LTSI South East Open and gold at the Open Dutch tournament. He also won a bronze with the England team at the European Championship.

Ben Halpin was also on that medal-winning England squad, and he recently picked up a silver at the ETA Rose Cup. He continued his great form in Legnano, winning a bronze.

This means that Team Warrior have won Italian Open medals in successive years after ‘Angry’ Courtney Smith won gold at the event in 2015.

Coach Johann De Silva said: “It’s been an amazing year for Shane and Ben and it was great to see them end 2016 in style. As for Calvin, I was very impressed with his valiant performance, especially as he hasn’t competed at this level for two years. The tournament was of a very high standard, and all three of our athletes put in amazing performances.”