Tallaght Martial Arts shine on Kickboxing international stage

THE WAKO Junior European Kickboxing Championships were held last week in Istanbul, Turkey where 17 athletes from Tallaght Martial Arts made up a large part of the Irish Kickboxing Team.

TMA represented their club and their country superbly all week, fighting brilliantly throughout the tournament.

Cillian McArdle was the outstanding performer for the Irish Team winning Gold in a very tough -52kg division.

After a tense battle in the final, which was all level in the first round, Cillian tactically adapted showing a wide range of skills and superior fitness with a very strong second round defeating a strong Bulgarian fighter, making Cillian the new European Champion -52kg.

Edward Comerford came home with a hard-earned silver medal after a very tight and exciting fight which saw two very talented athletes fighting right to the last second.

Unfortunately Edward was pipped by one-point in the final seconds losing to the current World Champion.

Edward also won a bronze medal in his light contact division, a very talented young athlete bringing home two medals from the Championships.

The next TMA finalist was Eoin Finn – after a very tough semi-final which saw him score an amazing head kick in the last seconds earning him a place in the final, Eoin unfortunately lost out to a GB fighter in a tactical hard-fought final securing him a silver medal.

Cian Colvin from TMA was exceptional in all his performances during the week which saw him win a very well-deserved bronze medal.

Cian will also be representing Ireland in the WAKO Senior World Championships later this year.

The club also saw some great performances by Dillon King, Callum O’Connor, Leo Golding, Lisa McCabe, Naman Shrivastava, Ellen McCaughey, Amy Comerford, Isabel Golding, Reece Doyle, Eryn Birkhead, Nathan Clarke, Dara Kelly Clarke and Anna White.

TMA head coaches Martin Bannon and Dave Heffernan said “We are very proud of our junior team, all athletes gave one hundred percent both in their preparation and their performances this week.

“This is the top level of our sport where winning one fight is tough, winning a medal is remarkable, and winning the European title is just outstanding”

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