Tallaght MA and BMA Clondalkin shine at the Nationals

BOTH Tallaght Martial Arts and Bushido Clondalkin figured among the top five clubs at last weekend’s Kickboxing Ireland National Elite Championships in Carrickmacross.

The competition bridged more than a two-year gap since the staging of the last Nationals because of Covid restrictions and Tallaght made an immediate impact on its return, dominating proceedings with a massive haul of 36 gold medals, 17 silver and 10 bronze.

BMA, for their part, emerged with six new national champions, five runner-up places and as many bronze medallists.

This was a tremendous achievement when considering the tournament involved 35 clubs represented by more than 400 competitors all battling it out, not only for national honours, but the chance to represent Ireland at the World Junior or European Senior Championships later in the year.

Among some of the stand-out performers for Tallaght was Nathan Kelly who, chalked up two Junior gold medals in Light Continuous and Kick Light, along with two senior titles in the same disciplines.

Nathan Clarke secured three gold in Older Cadet Light Continuous, Point Fighting and Kick Light while Nicole Bannon emerged with two senior titles to her name.

Bushido Clondalkin competitors Aranas Orlovas and Ross Gaynor

There was double gold in the Junior field for Tallaght’s Zara Jones along with silver in Senior Point Fighting, while Louis McGlinchey twice topped the podium in Junior Forms and Ellen McCaughey did likewise in Junior Points and Kick Light before also finishing runner-up in Junior Light Contact.

“This was an outstanding accomplishment for all these amazing athletes young and not so young making TMA officially the best Kickboxing club in the country” said TMA coach, Dave Heffernan.

“These guys work very hard, there is amazing comradery, they support each other and have great fun, but it’s their consistency and hard work that produces these results,” he stressed.

For Bushido, Aranas Orlovas and Ross Gaynor finished first and second respectively in the Boys PF YC -47kg category while younger sibling, Eidenas Orlovas lined out in his first national championships.

Brothers Roan and Cayden Derwin were edged out in the semi finals of PF YC -32kg and PF OC -57kg categories respectively before Sean Hawkins emerged runner-up from the Boys JM -74kg Light continuous division and joint third along with teammate, Matas Simkus in the PF JM-74kg class.

Louise Shortt reached the final of the Girls YC -42kg competition where she lost out by just a couple of points.

The club’s Wade family is now a four-person fighting team with eight-year-old Ali winning her first national title in the CH -33kg division while Abbie Wade proved unbeatable in the YC-37kg division.

Fourteen-year-old Ryan Wade had a war with his KKC opponent in the final of the OC -57kg division, but clinched the win before also taking bronze in the PF OC-57kg class while 15-year-old Amy Wade stopped all her opponents en route to gold in the LC OC -55kg field after which she landed silver in the Girls Point Fighting division.

Clondalkin’s only senior competitor at the championships, Robert Barrett, took first place in the Men’s PF -57kg category by walk over and was then outpointed by the TMA’s Nathan Kelly in the Men’s LC-57kg division.

Winning the national title for juniors gives them the opportunity to qualify for the national team that will participate in the World Championships for children, cadets and juniors in Jesolo, Italy next October, while national honours for senior athletes offers them a shot at the European Championships which will be held in Antalya, Turkey in November.

Last weekend’s National Championships followed hot on the heels of a major fight night that both Tallaght and Bushido jointly hosted in the Citywest Convention Centre and was titled ‘The Return’, to mark the first kickboxing competition to be held after a long two-year hiatus.

The event comprised of more than 60 bouts involving novice, intermediate and advanced fighters who showcased their skills in Point and Light Continuous fighting.

Along with all the Leinster BMA outfits (Clondalkin, Leixlip, Celbridge, Enfield and Naas), TMA also boasted a very strong presence on the night.

Other clubs involved were Eagle Martial Arts, Elite Kickboxing, Chris McCabe Taekwondo, LJ’s Kickboxing, KKC, Nenagh Kickboxing, Hurricane Martial Arts and Total Kickboxing.

The Clondalkin team fielded 15 athletes on the night and finished up with 11 wins.