Francis Bazin and Shane Varjassy competed in the National Taekwondo Championships held in Vancouver on January 9-13.

The Championships, which were a double-elimination format, included both the senior and junior championships.

Both athletes arrived in Vancouver on Thursday, January 10 with a light training session that evening.

After their official weigh-ins, Bazin fought in the Senior Welter Division and Varjassy in the Junior Welter Division.

Bazin, who is in his first year of competing as a Saskatchewan senior athlete at nationals, squared off against an Ontario native in his first match on January 12. The contest was very close throughout all three rounds, but Bazin came up short on the scorecard in the end.

Several hours later Bazin took on another Ontario native. His second match was no different from his first. It was a close battle with his opponent edging out the victory in the final seconds.

Despite falling short in his two matches, Bazin still had a strong showing in Vancouver.

Varjassy kicked off his showing in Vancouver against the former Canadian Champion, who is a B.C. native. Varjassy went toe to toe with his opponent, but fell to him near the end.

Just six hours after his first tilt, Varjassy took on an Ontario native in his second contest. He led the match from start to finish, eventually taking it 4-1.

The victory moved Varjassy onto a third fight immediately after his contest because of a scheduling glitch.

Varjassy's third fight was as close as they come. He exchanged points with his opponent, who is a native of Ontario, throughout the match. Varjassy did, however, get the short end of the stick from the judges. He landed a crescent kick for three points, but the judges missed it and no points were rewarded. Following the judges' mistake, Varjassy's opponent scored a point on him to take the match 6-5.

Both fighters returned to Yorkton happy with their experience in Vancouver. They look forward to using what they learned at the event in their upcoming tourneys.