Bristol Open medals are earned by Bushido Clondalkin fighters

By Stephen Leonard

A STRONG 12-person Bushido fighting squad, along with head coach Ilija Salerno, made their presence felt at the Bristol Open Kickboxing Champ-ionships last weekend.

One of the last major kickboxing competitions of the season, the event attracted teams from all over the UK, Ireland, Italy, USA, France, Greece and Holland.

BMA Clondalkin’s top competitor Karyna Nikitina finished her season in style by topping the podium in the Junior Girls -60kg Light Continuous category on the Saturday.

She also entered the Open Weight Junior Girls category in which she reached the final, but an untimely knee injury stopped her competing.

Eoghan Gorman also scooped gold after topping the Men’s Light Continuous -69kg division- a feat that was made all the more remarkable given that he has just turned 18 years of age and has only started out in the senior ranks.

Rory Murphy was the last of the gold medallists for the Clondalkin outfit after he took first place in the Men’s Novice Points Fighting -74kg category and on his first inter-national appearance also.

Kevin Quill emerged a double medallist after reaching the final of the Men’s -84kg and semi-final of the -79kg Continuous categories, losing both on close split decisions.

Aoife Walsh finished with a deserved silver medal in the Ladies Intermediate -60kg Points Fighting division while 15-year-old Dean Murphy, on his first international trip with the club, took bronze in the Boys -57kg Points Fighting class.

Derek Deegan was also a bronze medallist in the Men’s Vets -74kg division, while unlucky not to medal on the weekend were Luke Kelly, Jake White, Antony Kedney, Gavin Moore and Zach Lamari.