Young kickboxers shine in Tallaght MA Open
By Stephen Leonard
TALLAGHT Martial Arts’ annual Open in Tallaght Community School last Sunday was well supported by local martial arts groups and clubs of Kickboxing Ireland.
Indeed more than 450 competitors from all over Ireland lined out in forms, kata, patterns, points fighting and light contact.
Dylan McClelland, fighting in his first tournament, won four fights in the Under 11 Years Novice Points fighting section to top the podium while Brayden Davis, competing in the Under 7 Years Small Boys Points Fighting also emerged victorious after three fight wins.
Nathan Clarke, contesting the Under 7 Years Medium Boys Points Fighting section, took the title.
Tallaght Martial Arts fighters dominated the Under 15 and 17 years points fighting section with Jodie Browne winning both sections in which she met clubmate Eadaoin McCrave in both finals, the latter also finishing third the light contact.
Adam Condon topped the Under 17-years Points Fighting as did Conor Mc Glinchey in the -75kg Mens Advanced section in which clubmate David Harris finished third.
Louis McGlinchey put in a very strong performance in the kata section to take third place before Zara Jones emerged runner-up at Under 13 years as did Joe Dolan fighting in the Veterans section.
There were gold medal wins also for Aaron Grennan (Under 13), Kyle Cooney (Under 9), Lauren Maloney (Under 9) and Lauren O’Keeffe (Under 13).
Blessington Martial Arts had a number of fighters competing with Shauna Fitzpatrick second in the Under 13 Year’s Points Fighting Novice category.
Likewise Anna White, fighting in the Under 9 Years, went second on the podium with Oisίn O’Connell third in Under 9 Medium Boys Novice section and Leo Golding following suit in the Under 9 Years Novice Small Boys Points Fighting division.
Black Panthers Kickboxing Club also made their presence felt at this event.
Evan Kelly won two fights on his way to the Novice Under 13 title before Micheal Mongan picked up silver in the Advanced age 17 category.
Eddie Mongan, lining out in Advanced 13 age and under, emerged third – a fine achievement given that he was competing after a long spell out of competition.
Taking part in his first competition, novice Jordie Baleuza Musodi turned in a fantastic performance to earn gold in the Age 17 and under category after only eight months in training at Black Panthers.
On another note, next up for Tallaght Martial Arts fighters is the Flanders Open in Belgium this weekend and the Rumble in Citywest on October 9.
The club is now enrolling both junior and senior students and those interested can check out the website tallaghtmartialarts.com for class times.
