5th July 2023

Matt Bush marked his return to competitive action with a silver medal at the European Para Taekwondo Championships in Holland.

The 34-year-old Welsh star hadn’t fought since suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in 2021, an issue that forced him to withdraw from Tokyo 2020.

But Britain’s first Para taekwondo world champion made up for lost time with a superb second place in the heavyweight final.

It proved a successful tournament for the Manchester-trained GB squad with former world champion, Amy Truesdale, and Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, Beth Munro winning gold medals.

Truesdale defeated opposition from Uzbekistan in the final while world number two, Munro defeated her French rival by a 21 points margin.

Forty-eight hours later the duo competed at the Solidarity Open in France, returning with two more titles: beating rivals from Morocco and Iran in their respective finals.

“I was happy with my performances; there was some great work implemented,” said Truesdale from Chester.

A weekend well spent 😏

European Para Taekwondo Open ➡️ Solidarity Open pic.twitter.com/T1iDGrBklJ

— GB Taekwondo 🇬🇧 (@GBTaekwondo) July 4, 2023

“Thank you to the massive support from all the team. Shoutout to Beth Munro too, the double golden girls. Fully on the path to Paris.”

Aaliyah Powell turned recent bronze medals at the World Championship and European Games, into gold at the British International Open at Manchester’s National Cycling Centre.

The 20-year-old from Huddersfield defeated Canada’s Leonarda Andric to win the -62kg weight division.

Afghan born Farzad Mansouri, who now trains in Manchester with the GB Taekwondo squad, defeated Camran Hassan to take the -80kg crown. Other GBT medallists were Cameron Booth-beaten in the -74kg final by Danish rival, Omer Dawoud-and Leo Speight, a bronze medallist at -68kg.