Tallaght hauling in titles from all quarters
By Stephen Leonard
IT HAS been a busy period with various tournaments for Tallaght Martial Arts fighters over the last two weeks.
In the Austria Classic in Innsbruck, Shauna Bannon lost out by solitary point in the final of the -65kg Points Fighting section and recorded at third place finish in -60kg.
A small squad of TMA fighters were in action in the Semi Tec tournament in Northern Ireland.
Stephen Jones took first place in the Men’s -85kg Points Fighting division before losing out narrowly in the final of the Grand Champion Points Fighting section.
Zara Jones also put in a great performance to win the Under 12 Years Points Fighting division while Lauren O’ Keeffe emerged runner-up.
Nathan Kelly was first in Under 12 Points Fighting and third in Light Contact while Jonathan Touhey also won out in the Intermediate -85 kg Points Fighting section.
Eadaoin McCrave topped the podium in Junior Women’s Light Contact and finished second in Points Fighting in the junior women sections.
In the Best of the Best Tournament in Roadstone Nathan Clarke, competing in the Under 8 Years Points Fighting section, fought his way to the final where he narrowly lost out.
More recently, TMA was well represented in the second round of Kickbox-ing Ireland National Senior Eliminations in which divisional winners earned the right to represent Ireland in the European Championship in Greece this November.
Shauna Bannon won her eighth National Senior title in the -60kg Points Fighting section while Keri Browne went all the way to the -65kg honour.
Caradh O’ Donovan also added to her national senior titles by regaining her -55kg Points Fighting position on the national team.
Dean Barry put in a strong performance to win his sixth All-Ireland crown when he topped the -79kg Points Fighting class before Gar Ryan also retained his National -89kg Points Fighting title.
Scott Farrell won his first National senior title after topping the -69kg section while Joe Dolan twice scaled the podium in the -84kg Points Fighting and Light Contact Veteran divisions.
Dave Heffernan retained the +94kg Veteran honour but Stephen Jones could not defend the -94kg Points Fighting prize after breaking his nose in the semi finals when he was eight points clear.
Nicole Bannon narrowly lost out in the +70kg title fight as did Brosna O’ Donovan in the -50 kg section.
In the beginners field Chris Williamson won the -80kg Points Fighting section while Dave Harris overcame his clubmate Jonathan Touhey in the -80kg Intermediate decider after which he took the -75kg light contact honour.
Tallaght MA’s Pat Warren and Pat Hardiman met in the final of +80kg Inter Points Fighting class which the former won in extra time following an exciting contest
