Martial Arts Open success

TALLAGHT Martial Arts hosted the Tallaght International Open 2026 at the Sport Ireland Sports Campus in what was the biggest kickboxing competition in Ireland since covid with 700 registered and over 400 taking part.

The event was part of the newly formed Celtic League for advanced athletes and served as the first event in the 2026 edition of the competition.

The Celtic League will be a four event series where competitors gather points across major Irish competitions in pursuit of championship gold.

Over 100 athletes from TMA competed with the club delivering in style winning 81 medals with 22 gold, 31 silver and 28 bronze.

Many athletes won multiple medals across points fighting, light contact and kick light categories across various different age brackets and levels.

Starting at the U7 category, a gold medal was won by Logan Shaw while Daniel Moore and Drew Fogarty won bronze.

U9s level saw Sean Doyle- Canning win silver in U9 novice while Mason Ellis Ekwe did the same at Intermediate.

Conor McClelland impressed at advanced level taking a gold and a silver across two categories.

Eve Couch earned herself a bronze in U9s competition while brother Jack Couch earned Bronze in the U11 category. Jack Couch earned Bronze in Points Fighting Novice U11.

Annabelle McGuinness won silver at U9 novice points fighting while Oisin McGuinness earned a bronze also at U9 level.

Tadhg McGuinness won Gold in Points Fighting U13 novice in his first competition while Joshua McGuinness earned a gold and two bronze competing at various categories at U15 level.

Sam Balfe won gold in Points Fighting & Light Contact in U13 categories at novice level while Flilip Konkel won silver in both categories at the same age range.

Tanveer Singh won silver in Light Contact U13 Novice while Jack Delaney won Bronze.

Abhinand Radhakrishnan earned Bronze in Points Fighting U13 Novice on his debut. Cooper O’Neill earned Bronze in Points Fighting U11 Novice.

Caleb Carpenter took Silver in Points Fighting U7 Novice while Alex Carpenter and Kyle Carpenter both competed at intermediate level on the day.

Lauren Feeney secured Silver and Bronze in Points Fighting U15 Novice, while Liam Feeney earned two silver medals and a bronze in the U13 advanced bracket.

Max Byron-May competed across four sections, earning two Bronze in U13 Intermediate and Advanced categories.

Jaiden Ferrer-Hoare claimed Bronze in Points Fighting U13 Intermediate. Luke Heffernan marked his first fight with Bronze in Points Fighting U13 Intermediate.

Polly Jones had a strong showing, taking Bronze in Points Fighting U11 Advanced and stepping up in age to take Silver in Points Fighting U13 Advanced.

Daire Ryan also stepped up a level taking Bronze in Points Fighting U19 Advanced and moving up to U11 Advanced to take Bronze there too.

Georgia Clarke impressed with Gold in Points Fighting U11 Advanced and Silver in Points Fighting U13 Advanced.

Hayley Meenaghan took a Silver in the U11 Novice section in her second competition.

Kayla Collins secured Gold in Points Fighting U15 Intermediate, while Troy Collins earned Bronze in Points Fighting U11 Intermediate and Silver in Light Contact U11 Novice.

Adam Myers dominated with a triple haul, taking Gold in Points Fighting U15 Advanced, Gold in Light Contact U15 Advanced and Gold in Kick Light U15 Advanced.

Edward Comerford secured Gold in Points Fighting U15 Advanced and Bronze in Light Contact U15 Advanced, while his sister Amy Comerford earned Bronze in Points Fighting U13 Advanced.

Reece Doyle “Smiley” had an incredible run, earning four gold medals and a silver while his teammate Reece Doyle “Curly” stepped into senior competition for the first time and made his mark, taking a Silver and Bronze in the Advanced -69kg. category.

Shannon Conlon delivered Gold in Points Fighting Junior -70kg and Silver stepping up into Senior -70kg.

At 60kg a host of athletes secured medals with Anna White claiming two silver and a bronze, Sarah Cassidy with a gold and silver while Lauren O’Keeffe earned Gold in both 60kg and 70kg divisions while earning another bronze in the Grand Champion division also.

Eryn Birkhead earned Silver in the Grand Champion division.

In Masters divisions, Ann Marie O’Grady secured Silver in Points Fighting Masters -60kg and Bronze in Masters +60kg, while Erika Sebestyen took Silver in Masters +60kg.

In the men’s categories, Danny Fitzsimons powered his way to double Gold in Men’s Novice -80kg and Over 80kg Points Fighting.

Nathan Farrell earned Silver in Light Contact Men’s Novice -70kg. Matthew Meehan secured Silver in U15 Light Contact Novice.

Fergus Daly claimed Bronze in Veterans Over 78kg Points Fighting.

Nikolas Fomkin earned Silver in Kick Light U17 Intermediate.

Scott Sherlock took Bronze in Points Fighting U17 Novice.

Shane Williamson claimed Bronze in Points Fighting U15 Novice on his first fight and showed he is a force to be reckoned with.

Brian O’Connor stepped up to Intermediate and earned Silver in Points Fighting U15 Intermediate.

Ryan O’Toole secured Silver in Points Fighting U15 Intermediate after moving up a division. Maia Kelly earned Silver in Points Fighting U11 Intermediate.

Also stepping out onto the mats in their respective divisions and gaining invaluable experience over the weekend were Ollie Byrd, Jake Courtney-McGauran, Logan Callery, Archie Lester, Danny McMahon, Jamie Murray, Ethan Travers, Aran Jordan, Sebastian Rausa and Sean Egan.