Tallaght MA among the big players in Irish Open
For full coverage from the Irish Open, click HERE to see how LJays Elite got on and click HERE to see how BMA Clondalkin got on.
TALLAGHT Martial Arts saw their team finished up fourth in last week’s Irish Open International following a haul of 11 gold, six silver and 21 bronze medals.
Jodie Browne enjoyed a tremendous outing in which she picked up three gold in Junior -65kg light contact and Junior -65kg and -70kg Point Fighting while Nathan Clarke, stepping up in age to compete in the Older Cadet Category (age 13-15), won silver in -37kg.
Tallaght Martial Arts proved one of the most successful teams in this year’s Irish Open International in Citywest
Lily Delaney did likewise and finished third in Older Cadet -32kg before Nathan Kelly fought his way to the final of Older Cadet -52kg, which was then showcased on the Irish Open Gala Night show to be broadcast on both Olympic TV and Eir Sports soon.
Eryn Birkhead scooped bronze in Older Cadet -42kg after which Bobby Smith came away with a silver.
The team events saw TMA’s Younger Cadet Girls team (Lily Delaney, Anna White and Sarah Burke) emerge third with the same colour going the way of both the club’s Older Cadet Boys team (Dylan McClelland, Ryan Del Duca, Aaron Keogh and Callum O’Connor) and Junior Men’s team (Ryan Birkhead, Bobby Smith and Billy Mc Lawrence of Rank 1 Kickboxing).
There was more success for the club in Juniors, Seniors and Veterans Point Fighting and Full Contact divisions on Saturday.
Coaches Stephen Jones won bronze in both -94kg and +94kg Black Belt Seniors Men’s sections before later retaining his -84kg Irish Open title and earning bronze at -89kg.
Conor McGlinchey captured the -89kg Senior Men’s Black Belt crown before Aoife Bailey and Naoise Colvin met in the -50kg Junior decider, the latter taking the win.
In the +70kg Junior Points Female category Eadaoin McCrave finished runner-up after which TMA coach Rebecca Kelch returned to the mats after an academic break and picked up bronze in -65kg Senior Women’s Point Fighting with Szymon Rycek following suit at Intermediate -80kg degree.
Sunday proved the club’s busiest day at the Open with Isabel Golding marking the start to their programme with her first Irish Open title in the Peewee Girls -24kg division and bronze in Peewee Girls -27kg class
Her brother Leo Golding went third on the podium in the Boys Younger Cadet -47kg field followed by Cían Jones in the Peewee Boys -24kg class.
Making his Irish Open debut, Dara Kelly Clarke realy turned heads with his victory in the Novice Younger Cadet -28kg division before Selsabille Aidi won her first Irish Open title in the Younger Cadet Novice 37kg section.
Anna won bronze in the Younger Cadet -37kg division while Louis McGlinchey and Sarah Cassidy picked up the same colour in the Older Cadet -69kg and -32kg divisions respectively.
Junior coach Zara Jones also finished third in both Older Cadet -50kg and -55kg with Dylan McClelland doing likewise in Older Cadet -57kg.
Irish Open titles went the way of Eryn Birkhead in the Older Cadet -42kg and Adam Condon in Full Contact -54kg before Keri Brown scooped bronze in the Women’s Grand Champion competition.
Next up for the club will be the second round of Senior and Junior National Championships in Newry on March 28 and 29.
