Welcome to the final day of competition! Today team New Zealand had 7 team events competing:
Senior male team patterns
Senior male team specialty
Senior male team power
Senior female team power
Junior male team sparring
Junior male team power
Junior female team power
Today we had 4 athletes Brenna, Marco, Daniel and Kevin who have waited extremely patiently for their turn to compete, with Marco, Daniel and Kevin making their World Champs debut.
We started off the day with senior male team patterns, with our kiwi boys up first bang on 8:30. Connor, DJ, Bailey, Lachlan and Mason, with Cody in reserve were up first against Japan. Both teams had chosen Toi-Gye as their optional pattern, with the Japanese performing it in a circle formation! The w shape sequence performed in a circle was slick and sharp, a really different stagger to our kiwis. Ge-Baek was given as the designated pattern proved to be a great battle between the kiwis and Japanese, with our kiwi boys taking the win.
Next, they were up against Norway, who chose Hwa-Rang as their optional pattern. These Norwegian lads were giants, and yet performed Hwa-Rang with absolute power and grace. Their designated pattern Po-Eun showed us interesting variations on formations and where you start on the mats. Our kiwi boys held a tight line in the middle of the ring, while the Norwegians separated into 2 lines on a diagonal at the back corner of the ring. After the 2 patterns, NZ cinched the win, putting them through to the semifinals against Poland. Despite putting up a great Toi-Gye and Ge-Baek, our boys took home the bronze medal, against Poland’s Hwa-Rang.
Senior male team power was slightly delayed as they realised very quickly that some countries had athletes in the team patterns. A bit of last-minute logistical issues in getting our athletes off patterns and into power, we were away! Certainly a hectic start, the team came together for an intense battle that housed 10 other teams. Kees was up on the side kick, with Lachlan in the turning kick, DJ on the reverse turning kick, Marco on the knifehand and Jarrad on the punch. The men’s power division is incredibly stacked, it took 4 hours on day 1 to find a winner, which meant we knew that this was going to be tough. With 4 successful breaks, team NZ bowed out of power.
Next up was senior male specialty, with Daniel up first on the high kick, Sean on the turning kick, Bailey on the reverse turning kick, Cody on the mid-air kick and Lachlan on the overhead kick. The team came out of this round with 3 successful kicks for a total of 9 points. Our boys managed to hold onto 3rd place until the very last team, when the Norwegians, took them out scoring 12 points to finish.
At about the same time as our specialty, the women’s team power was also up on ring 2.
This was the smallest pool with 8 other teams, but nonetheless required 3 tie break rounds to find a winner. Ava was up first on the turning kick, with Cass up second on the elbow, Georgia on the side kick, Brenna on the reverse turning kick and Kyla on the knifehand to finish. A clean round meant our girls were through to play offs. After upping the ante, the first tie break was a 3 board reverse turning kick which was unfortunately not broken by any team. The second tie break went to a 3 board knifehand which Kyla and the Romanian successfully achieved. The final tie break was a 3 white board and black board side kick, an absolute piece of cake for our world champ who did 5 the other day. With the Romanian failing to get the break, NZ were declared the team winners.
Our junior male sparring team was our next kiwi event up. With Tarek, Neo, Kevin, Gurveer, Jackson and Makai in reserve were up first up against Canada, with Canada picking first. Kevin was up first with a very comfortable 3:1 win, a last minute back kick that doubled the Canadian over of course helped! Tarek was up next, with an outstanding rear turning kick that cleanly scored, a 3:0 win for NZ. Next up was Jackson, demonstrating smart zippy movement and effortlessly evading his competitor. A 3:0 win for NZ in round 3. Round 4 had Neo up next. This was the toughest of the fights with them both back and forth scoring. With the score board flipping constantly between judges, this resulted in a 2:2 draw. Gurveer was last, his round definitely reminding us of the absolute power of his side kicks. After 2 of his side kicks stopped his Canadian opponent in his tracks, we knew we were in for a fantastic last round. Despite a foul in the last 25 seconds, and a rendition of the ‘nutcracker’ in the last 7 seconds, Gurveer walked away with a 3:1 win after a gutsy Canadian match. This meant our boys progressed to the next round.
Our next round was the toughest to watch. Our boys were up against Slovenia, a team that housed several individual World Champion sparrers. Kevin was up first against one of those World Champion sparrers, after some good ducking and weaving, unfortunately he bore the brunt of the true might of Slovenian power, and lost 0:4. Tarek was next up, with his lightening quick rear turning kick, and some strong punches, he managed to hold off the Slovenian to 0:3, despite taking out a corner judge in the last 4 seconds. Jackson was our third sparrer, often getting a bit tangled in the limbs through the punching crossfire, he lost. A quick push from his opponent, he managed to fall on poor Kev and an unfortunate member of whoever was sparring in red on the ring next door. He lost 0:4 to the Slovenian. In a change up, Gurveer went next against a zippy Slovenian. He tried his best to hold the Slovenian off, and even at 40 seconds, the score was looking close! Unfortunately, despite solid and clean rear turning kick, it wasn’t enough to save the match and he lost 0:3. Neo was our last sparrer up, with an incredible height difference that made you know for sure those European genes were working overtime. It turns out, this fella was the bronze medallist in the over 75kg division… and boy did he look the business. Neo fought valiantly for all 2 minutes, giving a truly gutsy fight. Unfortunately, a 0:4 result meant our boys were out of team sparring.
Our junior male power breaking team had a bit of a rough start, in that, following all of the excitement and sadly injuries that came out of team sparring, Kev was unable to compete in power due to a concussion. That meant our boys pulled in Jackson for a last minute draft, with Felix in reserve, and reshuffled some of the breaks around. It’s incredibly tough thinking you know for sure what your team break is, and then it all changes at the last minute. Our boys handled the challenge of change well, but undoubtedly this change came with some extra nerves. With 11 teams in the division, Neo was up on a 2 board turning kick, Matt reshuffled onto a 2 board reverse turning kick, Tarek on a 2 board knifehand, Jackson drafted in for a casual 3 board side kick, and Gurveer on the punch. With the kiwi boys making 4 out of 5 breaks, we were unfortunately knocked out with Ukraine, Scotland, Romania and Hungary in play offs for first place.
The tie reak boards definitely got far more stacked with a 4 board side kick up first. A 3 board punch ruled out Romania with Scotland cracking a board. The final tie break came in the form of 2 white board and 1 black board turning kick. With Hungary being the only one to make the break, it was a pretty intense play off to watch, especially as Hungary’s tie breaker of choice easily looked twice the size of some of our boys… while not the outcome we wanted, this boys division was easily one of the most hotly contested.
Our final event of the day was junior female power breaking. With 11 teams in the division, it was always going to be a challenge. This team had Divine on the knifehand, Madi elbow, Esme on the side kick, Ria on the turning kick and Ruby on the reverse turning kick. While all 5 breaks were beautifully executed, unfortunately a procedural error invalidated one of our breaks. This meant only 4 counted towards our team total. This unfortunately knocked our girls out of any play offs.
With this event finishing, this ended the kiwi run at the world champs. It has been a hectic 4 days reporting from Croatia. The area was hot and sticky with apparently zero concept of air conditioning. Our days were long with them started from 7am in the arena, to some nights finishing well after 9pm. Team NZ have worked exceptionally hard on this campaign, and you could see the love on the mats. It has been a true pleasure writing for you on this experience, I know you will all congratulate the team members, coaches and management through all the highs and lows of competition. Some days are good and some days are bad, and that’s just life.
Our supporters and parents made the 4 days an absolute hoot, their energy and love for the art absolutely visible in their voices. We had friends, families and randoms (!) cheering us on from the stands and across the livestreams. Your presence didn’t go unnoticed, and certainly we adored having all the supporters with us.
I wish everyone safe travels onwards and home for those returning earlier. The live streams are still up for you to watch, but for now, this is us saying Croatia, thanks for having us but that’s Team NZ over and out.
11 October
World Champs Day 3
Welcome to day 3! Officially half way through the tournament and still so much more action from our kiwis to be had!
Today saw junior patterns across 1st and 2nd degree divisions, our pre juniors doing specialty and our seniors sparring.
This morning started almost as hectic as the day before with Makai and Felix up on rings 7 and 8 for 1st degree patterns, Madi and Ria up on rings 5 and 6 for 1st degree patterns, and Nina and Ruby on rings 3 and 4 for 2nd degree patterns. We also had Liam competing on ring 9 for pre junior specialty.
Phew what a start!
Liam was on ring 9 with 30 other pre junior boys ready to jump. As 6th up, he was ready to fly, having worked hard to recover his legs from the sparring match the night before. He confidently got the flying high kick and the midair kick, however unfortunately was unsuccessful beyond these kicks. He bowed out of specialty here.
Nina was up on ring 3 against Italy first. Going up against the European champ was a tough ask, and came off second best this time, but not before delivering a very crisp Choong-Jang and Yul-Gok with the power and grace we can only watch in awe of. Ruby kept us on our toes with a draw against Ireland in both Eui-Am and Chon-Ji, splitting judges equally 2/2 with one undecided judge. After a tie break Po-Eun, Ruby cinched the win. She then went up against Norway, with Eui-Am and Ge-Baek, but was unable to swing the scoring her way. An excellent display of power and strength with her reverse turning kicks that we got a full view of in the stands! She bowed out after this round.
Makai was up with a sharp and snappy Ge-Baek and Do-San. One of his patterns scored a 0 for reasons that we aren’t quite sure on, however, this meant that Makai bowed out to Sweden. Felix effortlessly took on Israel through Ge-Baek and Won-Hyo, sailing through to face Spain for Po-Eun and Won-Hyo. Unfortunately though, he bowed out here this time. Both boys gave everything to those patterns and it showed on the mats, the results just weren’t in kiwi favour today.
Madi was next up on her run through pool 1. With absolute power and precision, she convincingly took the win against Belgium, but unfortunately was bested this time by England in round 2, performing a beautiful Po-Eun and Choong-Moo to finish off. Her Choong-Moo delivered the very epitome of stick the landing, with those two jumps.
Ria kept us all on our toes with possibly one of the greatest comebacks we’ve seen for some time. Her first round against Uzbekistan almost ended in disaster when she unfortunately had a mid match brain fart and forgot Ge-Baek. With Won-Hyo to finish, we thought it was all over until she delivered such a spectacular pattern that she beat her Uzbekistan opponent off one score alone! Kiwi stands were elated to see one judge scored Ria as high as 8.6 for her Won-Hyo!
Unfortunately, Ge-Baek proved to be the ultimate battle for Ria, and she was unable to recover against Argentina with Chon-Ji, after unfortunately forgetting Ge-Baek again. Despite the crisp Chon-Ji, Ria unfortunately bowed out to the argentine.
Speaking of tough fights, Cass was the first of our senior sparrers, taking on Individual Neutral Athletes in her first fight in the over 75kg division. The scary part about open divisions is you’re never quite sure just who you might get…
Cass absolutely crushed it with a very comfortable win, to bring her to her semi final fight against Argentina. Both were absolutely determined to fight through to the finals, delivering a fight so close that the scoring stayed even for a significant portion of the match. Within the final 30 ish seconds, Cass managed to flip the score in her favour. A last minute foul to the Argentinian solidified Cass’s win through to the finals. Kiwi stands were roaring, what a privilege to watch it play out on centre stage.
Her final fight against the Netherlands was her toughest fight yet in this competition, there was definitely a reason they were both here in the finals! After a nail biting final match, you’d be forgiven for forgetting to breathe for 4 minutes watching in hushed anticipation. We are incredibly proud of Cass’s silver medal for her first time sparring in the senior category! What a phenomenal achievement!!!
Our final sparrer for the morning was Amy up in the 50-55kg division. This division was so stacked it housed 4 pools. With Amy in Pool 2, her first match was up against Ireland. Those Irish genes were working overtime though with a significant height difference making her long legs lethal. Despite a valiant fight from Amy, she bowed out here.
By day 3, it was becoming more and more clear that the organising committee hadn’t worked out the air conditioning in the arena, but at least the rings broke pretty much at the same time, allowing us a lunch opportunity to go outside and experience actual natural light and breathe nicotine laced air that for once lacked the stale taste of sweaty sparrers - the Champs life isn’t for the faint hearted nor is it all that glamorous sometimes!
Our afternoon began with Isabel in specialty. Isabel effortlessly flew through the kicks, with so much strength and precision that she glided through her round. Unfortunately, her mid-air kick was disallowed due the judges ruling she kicked with the incorrect part of her foot. While officially clearing 4 out of 5 kicks, Isabel was unable to hold a play off position and bowed out of specialty here.
As the afternoon progressed into more senior sparring, it was a tough day in the office for kiwis.
Connor and Mason were up next for 57-63kg sparring. After an intense 4 minutes, unfortunately, Connor bowed out to Ireland. Mason took on the USA in his first round, before facing Argentina in his second round. Both Mason and the Argentinian put up a very exciting 4 minutes, with the score remaining quite undecided for the first round. Unfortunately, it swung blue in the second round and Mason bowed out here.
Georgia was up next against Italy in the first round of the 55-60kg division. Despite the electronic scoring conking out to begin with, this didn’t deter both girls getting to work. Both demonstrated excellent movement utilising the full ring, as well as great leg strength and control both trading off side kicks. Unfortunately today, the match swung Italian favour and Georgia bowed out here.
Sydney was up next on centre ring in the 60kg-65kg division. While quite early up in the division, poor Sydney had to wait for a long time as the ring was delayed due to the electronic scoring giving out, and a previous match resulting in the German getting concussed. Sydney’s opponent was an extremely tall polish girl whose side kicks really utilised every ounce of her height. While Sydney demonstrated the true power of a rear turning kick, unfortunately this round when to Poland.
Lachlan was up next in the 69-75kg division against Chile. Both competitors zipped through the ring, with an excellent display of speed and power. It was quite a tough fight, with a last minute foul to Lachlan, the win went to the Chilean.
Sean was up next against Romania in the 81-87kg division. Ring 5 appeared to have significant issues actually staying down, and unfortunately there was a bit of a delay mid-match as officials rushed over to stick the mat back down to the floor, after it looked like Sean tripped on a lifted section.
This was a really tough fight, with the Romanian and Sean very agile across the ring, slipping and moving just out of reach of the other. Unfortunately, this match went to the Romanian.
Our final sparrer of the day was Brenda, in the other 55-60kg pool. Brenda was up against a feisty American who in a prior round against the Czech Republic showed the stands there was a lot of aggression in all 55-60kgs of her!
Benda gave us an excellent masterclass in pure movement and grace as she slipped and ducked the American. Unfortunately though, despite the American wracking up 2 fouls, she still prevailed, and a Brenda bowed out here.
Medal count for the day: one silver to Cass!
That is our prejuniors done with their competition, only team events left to go. We look forward to watching our kiwis in action on the final day of Champs!
- Brittany Young
10 October
World Champs Day 2
Day 2 was easily the most hectic start for Team NZ. Today we saw the junior power breaking, with Gurveer and Matt, and Esme and Divine representing NZ in these divisions. Today also saw senior patterns, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree patterns running across 7 rings at the same time!
First up saw the senior men across 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree patterns.
Ben was up first with a strong Sam-Il and Juche, but unfortunately just got nudged out by Chile. Kees followed with a strong Choi-Yong and Chong-Jang but unfortunately bowed out to Japan.
Our 2nd degree boys showed the stands a lot of excitement, with Cody and DJ both making their World Champs debut. Cody won his first round against Italy, before bowing out to Finland with Choong-Jang and Hwa-Rang.
DJ took on Scotland in round 2 (as his Ethiopian counterpart was a no show), before taking on Moldova in round 3 and Poland in the quarter finals to make it through to the semi finals! After a thrilling semi final against Malaysia, DJ came out with a shiny bronze medal!!!
Connor competed in the 4th-6th degree division, a highly competitive group housing some athletes with significant experience in this division. Connor had an awesome run taking on Hungary and Sweden, before bowing out in the quarter finals to Germany.
Concurrently, the 1st degree division was in full swing with Lachlan and Mason representing team NZ. Lachlan made his way through 3 rounds to get to the quarter finals, taking out Scotland, Columbia and Ireland along the way. Unfortunately, he bowed out at the quarter finals, with a loss to Poland who was the eventual silver medalist.
Mason had an epic run in pool 1, taking on Chile, Belgium and Poland along the way. In the quarter finals, he came up against Italy, to take the pool final win against Ireland. With a thrilling final, moved to centre stage on ring 1, Mason clinched the win against Poland with an outstanding Ge-Baek and Do-San. Mason is officially the 2025 1st degree Male Patterns World Champion!!! The kiwi contingent roars could be heard all around the stadium, what an epic finale to the senior men’s patterns.
We truly were not kidding about events running all at the same time. On ring 2 while all the patterns were happening, we had Matt making his international debut, and Gurveer in junior men power. It felt like a bit of air hockey, flicking our heads back and forth between all the rings to catch all of the kiwis on display!
Matt smashed his way through 2 the 5 breaks, with Gurveer coming through with a clean round. With 14 of the 34 competitors making all 5 breaks, this unfortunately knocked Matt out of competition, with Gurveer through to play offs.
The first tie break was a 3 board knifehand, which whittled down the competition to 4. Following a hugely impressive 5 board sidekick break, this still didn’t find us a winner, so a third tie break was needed. Trying to up the ante, officials decided on a 3 board reverse turning kick. Unsuccessful in the reverse turning kick, Gurveer clinched the bronze medal.
Women’s patterns began after the men’s with Brenda up first in the 3rd degree division. Brenda had a great run through the pool rounds, taking on Hungary and Argentina, before bowing out to Ukraine.
The 2nd degree division was running at the same time, with Ava bowing out to Germany in her first round, and Hayley also making her international debut, making her way through the USA and Ireland, before bowing out to Sweden after a nail biting Juche and Po-Eun.
Millie and Amy were up next with 1st degree patterns, a division so hotly contested it had 4 pools. Millie unfortunately bowed out to Ireland in her first round. Amy flew through pool 1, taking on Slovakia, Czech Republic and Ireland, before taking out Argentina to secure her pool win. Effortlessly taking out Norway with Kwang-Gae and Toi-Gye, Amy sailed through to the finals with the Netherlands.
A nail biting final, absolute silence while we watched Kwang-Gae and Do-San, Amy was officially crowned the 1st degree senior women’s patterns World Champion!!! NZ Stands were roaring at a second patterns win!
Our patterns run ended with Sam competing in the hotly contested 4th to 6th degree women’s patterns division. This division houses some hugely experienced athletes who have spent many years perfecting the 21 patterns that can be called in this competition. Sam was up first against Ariella from Finland,va highly experienced athlete in this division. While performing a great Moon-Moo, a pattern that is deeply unforgiving for any wobbles of balance and Choi-Yong to finish, Sam bowed out to the Finnish, who went on to take out silver to Italy’s Silvia Farigu (the 2023 World Champ).
After an incredibly exciting morning, our afternoon began with our junior girls breaking, and our pre juniors sparring.
Esme and Divine (both making their international debut) effortlessly smashed their way through all 5 power breaks. With 17 out of 26 competitors all making clean rounds, we knew we in for a serious display of absolute power and precision to find a winner. The first tie break was a one white and one black board knifehand which whittled down the competition to 5. Unfortunately Esme was unable to make this break and bowed out here. Divine smashed her way through, securing her spot in the next tie break. After the officials announced a 3 board turning kick as the next tie break, we watched with bated breath to see who got through. Divine effortlessly destroyed it, the only one to do so, showing the world that Kiwi gals absolutely know what it takes to get the job done. Divine is officially a junior female power breaking World Champion!!!
Our pre juniors were up to spar, with Caylix, Anthony and Liam making their international debuts.
Caylix was up first against a very tall girl from Scotland. With a sizeable height difference, Caylix fought valiantly before bowing out. Anthony showed us ultimate speed and guts against Poland, flip flopping the scores between red and blue. Despite the power of Poland, Anthony fought hard until the very end, not afraid to get stuck in with his punches. It was a great match to watch, but unfortunately, he couldn’t quite flip it back to blue.
Jake had a tough fight against Chile, again, another fight that demonstrated ultimate speed and power. This match also had us back and forth on the scoring, with both delivering a solid display of the absolute speed a rear turning kick can generate. Unfortunately, this round went to the Chilean.
Liam was our final sparrer of the day, with his first fight up against the USA (only an hour behind scheduled time!). His second fight might have been a bit of a head scratcher for those at home, Liam in theory was up against Poland, however, ended up having walk on and thus advancing to the semi finals. His Poland competitor was withdrawn for medical reasons due to his previous fight with Ukraine. This competitor was disqualified from the match, giving the win to Poland. As the Polish competitor was unable to fight, this meant Liam had a walk on match.
His semi finals fight against Germany resulted in a fantastic win for Liam despite a last minute foul, advancing him to the finals against another Ukrainian competitor. As the final fight for the night (about 8:15PM by this point!) Liam fought his toughest fight yet, eventually taking the silver. A fantastic result for his first World Champs!
Awaiting the medal ceremony, it was so late in the evening the busses had stopped running to take us to the hotel. It was however, a privilege to hear our anthem for the third time today with Divine receiving her gold medal and Liam receiving his silver.
After an extremely long day, we are happy to report the official medal count sits at 4 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronze!
- Brittany Young
9 October 2025
World Champs Day 1
Welcome to Day 1 of the tournament!
Day 1 saw a good mix of the New Zealand team up today with pre junior patterns, senior men and women’s power, senior men specialty and our juniors sparring.
First up, our opening ceremony with Bailey and Connor bearing the flag for team New Zealand. After a lovely quartet serenading us with the Croatian national anthem it was time to get underway!
First up, our senior women in power. Ava smashed her way through 4 of 5 breaks, with the knifehand break not quite a smooth sailing on this occasion. Kyla showed us exactly why she’s a professional, with a clean round and advancing through to play offs. With 4 in the play offs for first place (Poland, Romania and Canada), Kyla glided through a 4 board side kick. With only Kyla and Romania making it through, a second tie break was needed! Of course it had to be a 5 board side kick…
The arena was hushed in anticipation watching Kyla show an absolute masterclass in precision and power. With a 5 board side kick demolished by Kyla, she was officially the back to back Senior Women’s Power World Champion!
Sean and Bailey were up for specialty in a very tough division. After a slight kerfuffle where the bar for the side kick had been misplaced, the division carried on with athletes completing the first 4 techniques and having to come back later. Sean managed to clear 4 of 5 kicks and Bailey clearing 4 out of 5 kicks too. After tie break kicks, both bowed out.
Some of our pre juniors made their debut onto international stage. Jacob and Jake were up in first degree patterns, with Jaya and Isabel up at the same time also for first degree patterns. With Jake and Isabel unfortunately bowing out to Wales and the Netherlands, unfortunately they did not advance through. Jaya made sure she took on the USA and Individual Neutral Athletes before bowing out to Malaysia. Jacob who was lucky enough to be on centre stage, made it through the first round, taking on the USA before bowing out to Kazakhstan. An excellent effort from our pre junior team!
Today was the day our junior team members were sparring with Ja Seng up first in the morning against Canada. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it through to the next round after putting up a great first fight.
Gurveer was up next from our team in the over 75kg division, where it would be highly difficult to tell they were juniors if not for the belts! Gurveer sailed through his first round against Canada, advancing through to his next fight against the USA and finally in his last fight of the competition against Moldova. His final fight was hotly contested, with the Moldovan having a bit of extra fire in him having only narrowly made it through to this fight. Unfortunately Gurveer came off second best today having given it his best shot.
Our afternoon started with senior men’s power, with Jarrad smashing his way through 3 breaks, and Kees through 4. Our senior men bowed out, watching in awe as the division went on for 4 hours from when they started before a winner was found! An incredibly tough division, our senior men did really well.
Jackson and Felix were up next to spar in the 60-65kg division which housed some pretty aggressive juniors. After a number of injuries and knockouts, the medics were working overtime in these rings. Jackson was up first against Japan, effortlessly showing off his speed and precision, before bowing out to Ireland. Felix patiently waited while protests occurred on this ring but unfortunately bowing out to Italy.
Neo and Tarek were up next in the 65kg to 70kg division which housed some huge junior boys. Neo won his first round against Canada before bowing out to Romania. Tarek kept us on our toes, going to 3 rounds before winning against Sweden. He then bowed out to Ukraine.
Ria fought well against Serbia, flying through the ring with the speed and grace one can only dream of. Unfortunately, her time was halted when she lost to Slovenia, who was eventual winner of the 49-53kg division.
Madi smashed her way through the USA, reaching the quarter finals before bowing out to Ireland. A fantastic effort from Madi who had a tough fight!
Eden sparred in the 45-49kg division, comfortably winning her first round against Japan. She then faced a tough opponent from Poland, bowing out after this round.
Overall, total medal count for the day is 1 Gold from Kyla Walton! An exceptional start to day 1 of the World Champs!
The last two days have gone fairly well for the team.
But firstly, I cannot go any further without congratulating one of our coaches who last night became New Zealand's latest Master, Master Trotter, who was promoted to 7th Dan with Honours last night from Grand Master Bos and Grand Master Van de Mortel. The team honoured Master Trotter with a standing ovation walk in to our team meeting last night and it was lovely having Mrs. Parrant from the board there to pass on their congratulations to him as well.
Back to the last few days, we have been able to use the training hall a couple of times now, which everyone has enjoyed getting back to wooden floors and mats. Luckily, we have been able to get some fairly good space both times.
On the first day we were able to create a dividing wall with our bags since there were not too many teams here yet so NZ had one half and Canada had the other half of the hall.
On the second day we had mats in the hall and when Canada finished, we were able to get a ring of mats for the NZ team, whilst England, Germany, and a couple of smaller teams were in the hall training as well. It is amazing how many you can fit in a small space, while so much dynamic movement is happening.
We aren't going to train today, since we have weigh in at lunchtime, and this is located in the training hall. With all the other countries having now arrived, space will be even tighter.
Accreditation has now been completed and all passes are checked, secured and ready to pass out to the team members for weigh in today.
Weigh in went really well, we were fully prepared with the team in dobok pants and team shirts, and with their required documents in hand they were processed in a matter of minutes. It was worth the monitoring and daily weigh in's prior to registration as everyone was within weight, and all received green lights first time around.
In the down time, the team have been practicing our Haka, which is going well. Everyone is enjoying going into Porec to shop, do their washing, or simply have lunch and looking around. Some of the supporters have been enjoying going out on boats to cruise around the islands. It has been great to see so many enjoying themselves and getting along. They have really been supporting the athletes well.
We have just had our last team meeting before the World Champs start. Hopefully everyone sleeps well tonight, we are looking forward to supporting everyone through the last step in their journey this year, no matter what the outcome we are proud of what everyone has achieved, and know they will do us all proud with their efforts.
Signing off till tomorrow,
The NZ Team
5 October 2025
NZ Team update from Porec.
After a big trip across the world, including 23hrs flying, 4 1/2 hrs in transit in Doha, and finally a 4hr bus ride from Zagreb, the team all arrived in Porec. After having lunch and settling in some of the boys enjoyed a game of volleyball to shake off the travel, while others enjoyed a walk or simply looking around the area to get there bearings. I think it is easy to say that by 8pm pretty much everyone was in bed hoping for a good nights sleep.
On Friday we gave the team a day off to recover from all the travel, and everyone dispersed to explore. Some made their way into Porec old town, others went on a boat ride, and some even hired cars to go visit surrounding areas and towns, which was great to see. It was a lovely sunny day, a little bit warmer than at home, but there was a chilly breeze reminding you it is autumn, however not enought to stop everyone from enjoying a swim, or explore around the area.
At the request of some of the team members we did hold our first training session which was on one of the hotel decks overlooking the bay. It lasted for only an hour from 5pm and was self managed but enjoyed by everyone who was there.
Saturday was another day of exploring for those who wanted to see more of Porec and the surrounding area, or rest for those who just wanted a break. Not as much sunshine but warmer in some ways. Before the training session today Haka practice was put on the schedule. Connor had found a nice secluded spot behind one of the hotels which was perfect to run through the haka, then they headed back to the hotel to more stable ground to have another training session which finished with a Happy Birthday song for DJ, as the first of the birthday's to be celebrated during this campaign.
The next few days will run fairly similarly, as we slowly ramp things up. The training hall opens tomorrow so the team will have a better surface to train on as they enter their final preparations for the World Champs starting Wednesday.
Day 2 was easily the most hectic start for Team NZ. Today we saw the junior power breaking, with Gurveer and Matt, and Esme and Divine representing NZ in these divisions. Today also saw senior patterns, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree patterns running across 7 rings at the same time! 
The last two days have gone fairly well for the team.
