National quarterfinalist Hameed Dakroub (C) poses with his peers. PHOTO COURTESY of Koubeissi Taekwondo

DEARBORN — The city of Dearborn is home to one of the most accomplished taekwondo schools in the country, Koubeissi Taekwondo on Michigan Avenue. Three of the school’s top students helped continue its illustrious tradition this past summer at the USA Senior and Junior National Taekwondo Championships in Orlando, Florida.

In front of a record-breaking crowd from June 28 through July 4 and under the tutelage of Master Ali Koubiessi, the head coach of the Michigan taekwondo teams and vice president of Michigan Taekwondo, Hameed Dakroub and Ali’s daughters Zeinab and Zahraa Koubeissi all finished in the top five of their respective divisions.

Dakroub, a Michigan State Champion, competed in the Senior World Class Featherweight Division  with a chance to advance to the USA National Team Trials on the line.

He won his first match by a score of 5-0 and jumped out to a 6-0 lead in his next match before suffering a fractured bone is his right thumb during the second round.

Dakroub pushed forward, winning the second match but narrowly lost the third one, falling just short of a win that would have qualified him for the national team trials despite competing valiantly with his injury. He finished fourth overall, becoming the first competitor from Michigan to reach that level according to Ali Koubeissi.

Both Zeinab and Zahraa Koubeissi also put on strong performances, as Ali Koubeissi’s daughters entered as Michigan gold medalists and left as national medalists after facing off against fellow state champions.  Both competitors brought home bronze medals for their efforts.

Ali Koubeissi, a sixth-degree black belt, and 1988 Lebanon Full-Contact Champion, said that he was proud of his students’ accomplishments, hard work, and resiliency after they worked two or three times a day for six to seven days a week to achieve their goals in competition against the best the USA has to offer.