The YGA(Young Go Academy) Students' Cup, sponsored by Morning Glory was held on 16 April Saturday, at the Young Go Academy in Strathfield where is a suburb of Sydney.

It was the biggest event for students in Australia since I came to Australia, and fortunately it was very successful.
There were three divisions and 36 students came join the event. Most of them are students from kindergarten to uni and some just graduated uni.
The first division was above 7k, the second one was 8k to 15k, and the third one was 16k below. The second and third division was played on the 13x13 board because normal one is too big for them to finish a game. All divisions were played with proper handicap.

Robert Vadas, who is the director of the Young Go academy made the opening speech and he mentioned about the core spirit and short history of Go, why they should respect their opponents and the game. Children and students listened that with fully attention and they became calmer afterwards.

The tournament started at around 10am, and most players became silent with concentration when the first game began. It was really amazing to see young children playing seriously without talking. Youngsters are mostly very talkative and too energetic to play game seriously. The game room was a tense atmosphere.

At noon, after playing two or three games, lunch time had come. For kids, it must have been the most enjoyable time on that day. They really liked the foods which their parents prepared and brought, and some Korean rice cakes were supported by Gang-Chon rice cake shop as well.

After lunch, afternoon session started and the participants played two or three more games. Young children were so interested of the rank with winning or losing and when I let them know their opponents according to the Swiss League System, they were very excited whom they would play against.

There was a closing ceremony after all rounds finished. Actually, the results were not really important because the main purpose of this event was to make students more interested in Go, enjoy a day with playing games with friends, but not for a prize nor results.  

This time, the way of getting presents was totally different from other tournaments. Three winners from each division came forward and selected their presents by themselves, and the second places and third places are the next. They chose what they wanted on their own, and they looked happy with their presents.

All presents were supported by Morning Glory, which is a Korean stationary shop, and it wouldn't have been as successful without their support. I really appreciate for them.
I also thank children's parents' supports very much. They cooked and brought home made foods, and those make the event much happier and more enjoyable.

I really thanks to Robert, who managed the whole competition including opening &closing ceremony. And Mijin, who is very adorable female Go player, teaching children at the academy with me.
Thanks to HY Cho and Jongwoo to take care of young children who are sometimes beyond my control. Young children had wonderful time with two of them with drawing and origami when they were not playing games.
I thank to all participants as well. I hope they were all pleased with meeting new people and playing games with them.

I was so happy to watch students' playing, and their manners. All of them played their games with sincere, and nobody was angry or crying after losing games. Especially very young children behaved very well with their new friends. 

Here is the list of the winners of the YGA Students' Cup.

First Division
 
Winner: Harry Wi
Second Place: Pierre Paga
Third Place: Dave Wi

Second Division

Winner: Taeyoon Kim
Second Place: James An
Third Place: Enoch Kim

Third Division

Winner: Sera Cho
Second Place: Heemang Lee
Third Place: Hanel Kim