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The year 2019 was a very busy and important year for our ITF competitors, with the World Championships in April and the European Championships in October, which are the two main events here in Europe. The year started in January with the Open Dutch 2019. Competitors used this to test themselves, to see where they stand at the start of the season. Most people know by now that the Open Dutch is a very competitive and strong tournament, and this year’s statistics support that statement!

Many competitors who did well at the Open Dutch, also did well at the World Championships and the European Championships. In total 29 competitors who won a medal at the Open Dutch also won a medal at the World Championships, and 30 competitors also won a medal at the European Championships. Out of which there were 11 World Champions and 13 European Champions! On top of that, there were 7 competitors that won gold at the Open Dutch and also at both the World Championships and the European Championships. These competitors were Vitalii Solovey and Danylo Demchyshyn from Ukraine, Tyra Barada from Slovenia, Nina Meppelder from the Netherlands and from Norway Linn Benjaminsen Lorentsen, Selma Li, and Helene Semb. On behalf of the Open Dutch, congratulations to all champions and we hope to see all of you at the Open Dutch 2020!

Oh, and before I forget… we just reached 275+ registered competitors, which is high almost a month before the deadline (January 14th!). As mentioned before, we have a limit, so if you want to compete, register now!

We’ve said that we would keep everyone posted about the registrations. We have now reached 200 competitors from over 15 countries and 32 clubs. We have a limit of 700 competitors, and we expect that the registration will ramp up fast while we get closer to the last day of registration, which is Tuesday 14th of January 2020. If you want a guarantee, register before we get close to the limit!

We have just passed 100 registered competitors for the Open Dutch 2020. Not only that but we also already have competitors from over 10 different countries registered:

• Belgium
• Finland
• Germany
• Ireland
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Scotland
• Spain
• Sweden
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom

We will keep you updated as the registration count goes up, as we have a limit of 700 competitors in place, and we want to make sure everyone who wants to participate is well informed. However, if you want a guarantee, register before we get close to the limit!

Some of the hotels are fully booked right now, and we also received some questions and feedback about the cost of the hotel. We looked at the options offered, and we realize that this may not have been clear to everyone, so we figured we would do a short post highlighting something.

Located in close proximity of Helmond are two great hotels called Best Western Wellness and Hotel Nobis in Asten and Boetiek Hotel Plein Vijf in Deurne. These hotels can be booked at the following price, by simply emailing them (info@nobis.nl or info@pleinvijf.nl) and provide them the booking code: dutch open.

• 1 Night – single  = 69 Euro
• 1 Night – twin = 75 Euro
• 1 Night – triple = 99 Euro
• 1 Night – quatro = 109 Euro
• 2 Nights – single = 119 Euro (59,50 per night)
• 2 Nights – twin = 139 Euro (69,50 per night)
• 2 Nights – triple = 189 Euro (94,50 per night)
• 2 Nights – quatro = 209 Euro (104,50 per night)

Now, if you occupy the twin room with 2 people the price per person is only 37.50 per night. If you book a triple or quatro and share the room with 3 or 4 people the room price per night drops to 33,- and 27.75 respectively. These are by far the cheapest options available in the area, and we feel it is very reasonably priced for the value they offer. So if you are still looking for a hotel, take a look at Best Western Hotel Nobis or Hotel Plein Vijf!

Registration for the Open Dutch 2020 will open tomorrow, November the 1st. We would like to point out that we are limiting the competition to a maximum of 700 participants, after which registration will be closed. So don’t wait until the very last minute, as you may miss out. Also, registration is only open for A, B and C class for both Sparring and Patterns. In other words, there is no D-class!

As we said in a previous blog, we hope that this makes it clear to everyone that it is extremely important to register early. If you wait until the last day then chances are the competition is full. We have decided to only open up the competition to A, B, and C-class so that it will hopefully offer space for everyone. You may wonder why we made this decision, from the very first edition it was always our goal to have a high-quality taekwon-do tournament in Europe with global top competitors. We feel it is fair to say that we have achieved this goal, but in order to ensure quality, we need to limit quantity. Hence we decided to focus on A, B, and C-class and put a limit in place.

You can find the invite, poster, and link to Sportdata here. We hope to see you at the Open Dutch 2020!