‘I am no stranger to the US Open’

RICHARD STONE, the first fighter to win back-to-back Night of Champions International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Championship titles at the International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) United States Open, returns to the main tournament for the first time since 2019, vying for gold medals in continuous and clash sparring titles, starting today in Orlando, Florida.

Stone and Akino Lindsay, this year’s Jamaican representative for the Night of Champions International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) World Championship bout, warmed up for the July 17-19 US Open by winning silver and gold, respectively, at the July 6 Taekwondo Grand Prix Devil’s Open in Argentina.

Stone, who last fought in the US Open’s main tournament in 2019, winning gold in continuous fighting, returned to Orlando in 2023 as the Night of Champions-bout winner after missing 2022 due to studies and the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

Flown in last year to fight in the main tournament, Stone was thrust for a consecutive Night of Champions battle, substituting Nicholas Dusard, who should have fought in the absence of Lindsay, left stranded in Jamaica by Hurricane Beryl.

“Though I haven’t fought in the rounds of the US Open’s main tournament since 2019, I have been competing elsewhere around the world,” said Stone, the second-most decorated International Sports Kick-boxing Association (Europe) Amateur Members Association (AMA) Jamaican fighter behind Lindsay with eight gold medals.

“After winning Night of Champions 2024 gold against Leard Xheladini, who had beaten me in the first round at the ITF World Championships, September 2023, in Finland, I won points-sparring gold and continuous-sparring silver at September 2024 ISKA AMA World Championships in Vienna, Austria,” Stone pointed out.

“I am no stranger to the US Open,” he added, reminding that he was a five-time US Open world champion, defeating the United States’ Sheldon Spencer in 2023 for his first Night of Champions title.

A medical doctor, Stone, along with Lindsay, was recruited in 2012 by Combined Martial Arts Team founder Jason McKay, from St George’s College and Kingston College, respectively, as participants in the Jamaica Taekwondo high school programme, which started in 2003.