Taekwondo NZ - South Island Open Championships

The TNZ South Island Taekwondo Open 2026, was held on 29 August 2026 at the Pioneer Recreation Centre in Christchurch.

Trinity Year 7 student, Nio Jair Sevilla, competed as a Black Belt in the Minor 9 -11 year old division, and achieved the following results:

• Gold – Kyorugi, Boys Minor 2, Black Belt, Under 36 kg

• Gold – Kyorugi, Boys Minor 2, Black Belt, Under 40 kg

• Gold – Poomsae Pair, Minor 2, Black Belt

• Silver – Poomsae Individual, Boys Minor 2, Black Belt

What a wonderful achievement Nio! Bringing home three gold medals and one silver, while proudly representing Trinity Catholic College is an outstanding accomplishment and we are incredibly proud of all you are achieving in your chosen sport. Nio's next competition will be the NZ National Taekwondo Championship in Wellington at the end of October. Nio competes at National and International level as a Black Belt (rank #1) Under 35kg & 40kg division nationwide, and his family reports he is extremely proud to represent both New Zealand and Trinity Catholic College.

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Year 10 student Matthea Mendoza, also competed at the Taekwondo NZ South Island Open recently. Matthea secured some outstanding results, and was awarded with two gold medals and a silver. An excellent outcome Matthea!

GOLD -2-1 Female Individual Junior

GOLD -2-1 Pairs Cadet / Junior (With Marcus Uy)

SILVER -2-1 Kyorugi - Female Junior (15-17 years) / Under 49kg combined

Congratulations Matthea, we are very proud of you!

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Year 7 Trinity student Marcus Uy delivered an outstanding performance at the TNZ South Island Open, taking home 6 medals in total — 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze! Amazing mahi Marcus!

Marcus has been consistently winning and dominating the Under 49kg Black Belt division since last year. His results speak for themselves, and he has proven time and time again that he belongs at the top of this division.

The South Island Open tournament is also an important part of the selection pathway for next year’s national team, and Marcus is determined to keep pushing forward and putting himself in the best possible position for selection.

With two more competitions still to go this year, Marcus is not finished yet, and will keep training, competing and improving with every competition. Following the impressive results achieved in Christchurch, Marcus will be back to the number 1 spot in the school rankings leaderboard. Congratulations Marcus! We are incredibly proud of you and every one of our Trinity students succeeding in this awesome sport.