Siblings pick up medals at WAKO Championships

THREE Lucan siblings have returned from the WAKO World Kickboxing Championships with a remarkable five medals, reports James Ffrench. Amy Wade (17), Ryan Wade (15) and Abbie Wade (12) managed to reach two semi-finals and two finals altogether at the Championships which were held in Budapest, Hungary.

Amy picked up two medals including a silver medal in the junior female kick light 55kg category and a bronze medal in the junior female light contact 55kg weight class.

Ryan fought in the younger junior full contact ring fighter 57kg category, picking up a bronze medal after narrowly losing to a polish fighter.

And finally, Abbie became world champion in the younger cadet point fighting 42kg category, while also picking up a bronze medal as part of the Ireland younger junior point fighting team.

77 Irish fighters took part in total for the Irish squad in all divisions and weight classes at the event, with 34 medals brought home altogether.

Over 3,000 athletes from 68 countries took part at the prestigious tournament, which ran from the 23rd August to the 1st September.

The three Wade’s have been in preparation since March for the competition, training six to seven times each week over the summer at KKC (Korean Kickboxing Club Cabra).

They have their two brilliant coaches Darren Doherty and Nicholas Duffy to thank, and also Clayton Liffey Valley hotel, Lucan district credit union and Mizzoni’s pizza who kindly sponsored them throughout their training.

Rest and recovery will now be on the cards for the three siblings after a hectic summer.

The three siblings also do Taekwondo, with Amy and Ryan both holding double blackbelts in the Korean martial arts.

They will look to add to their success at the National Taekwondo Championships later this year