GRANDMASTER Joon No and his team of 11 athletes were in top form at the recent New Zealand Open.

They brought home 10 gold, three silver and three bronze medals from the Auckland event, which attracted over 500 competitors from New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific.

Black belts Alexandra Cutting, 22, and Jerome Tseitlin, 20, of Brighton each won a gold medal in the senior division. Cutting's 6-4 win in the under 62kg division against a 2008 and 2012 New Zealand Olympian surprised many.

She has been competing for only two years but has shown vast improvement.

Tseitlin, a Monash University student, defeated four opponents in the Under 68kg division to claim gold.

Cutting and Tseitlin train at Joon No's Taekwondo Brighton branch under Grandmaster No four to five times a week and have hopes of competing in the Olympics.

Grandmaster No was proud of their performances. "It was rewarding that their hard work and efforts have paid off. I hope to see continued success at further international competitions," he said.

Also starring was 15-year-old black belt Benecia Cheong, with three golds.

Her first came in the 49kg senior division class against one of New Zealand's top senior fighters.

She also won the juniors 49kg gold medal despite sustaining a thigh injury and completed her hat-trick in the formwork competition.

Four other black belts put up great fights with Bryanna Cheong, 16, winning gold and bronze (junior & senior sparring); Callan Hatherley, 15, winning gold and silver (junior & senior sparring)); Atticus Lim, 15, winning bronze in junior sparring and Clinton Kew, 11, winning two silver medals in cadet sparring and formwork.

Under 11 red belt cadets Kai Sapolu, Aidan Chuah and Pavara Jayawardena made their international debuts with Sapolu winning gold medals in sparring and formwork.

Jerilee Carkeek, 21, a red belt from the Dandenong branch fought in both red and black belt divisions. She showed great potential, winning gold in the red belt and bronze in the black belt.