Pride of the nation

THERE was local success at the WAKO (World Association of Kickboxing Organisations) world kickboxing championships that took place recently at the prestigious City West Conference Centre.

The largest of all world events, the WAKOs are known for their high standard of fighting athlete and 52 nations were represented from across the globe, from New Zealand to Guatemala and everything in between.

Over 2,500 junior fighters lined out to try their best to earn the coveted title of WAKO world champion in various weights.

Amongst that throng of young warriors were our own junior Irish fighters, four of whom hail from local Kickboxing club in Glasnevin, Red Star Kickboxing.

Eliza Bluma (15), Dayna Walsh (14), Robyn McDonnell (14) and Craig Tuite (15) from were all earlier selected by Kickboxing Ireland to represent the national team at this great event.

After six months of preparation the local team brought back one gold and two bronze between them with Eliza Bluma winning the world title at -55kgs.

Eliza stole the show with her dynamic movement and explosive combinations, leaving her foreign opponents reeling. She had four tough fights as she progressed to her final where she met a very skilful fighter from Slovenia.

After three rounds Eliza was declared the winner on points, much to the elation of the home crowd. 

Dayna Walsh bagged herself a bronze medal in the -50kg division after a very close fight with the eventual world champion winner from Croatia. Craig also won bronze as he too reached the semi finals only to lose by one point to Russia in the male -52kg division.

Robyn was unlucky in her opening bout losing out to Mexico in a very tough fight for her. The Mexican went on to take the silver medal in the -65kg division.

Speaking after the event Irish national and Red Star head coach Jon Mackey said he couldn’t be more proud for how the four members carried themselves.

“They fought with pride and earned themselves very good positions in the results table,” he added.

“Obviously I’m over the moon to be bringing back a word title to our club. Eliza is a little superstar in the making. Herself, Dayna, Robyn and Criag have all huge futures in the sport of Kickboxing.”

Mackey is also national coach for the governing body in Ireland – Kickboxing Ireland (KBI). KBI came second in the over all medal tally behind Russia.

“To come second to Russia in the over-all medal table is really some achievement for KBI,” he told Northside People.

“When you think about it, Russia has around 160 million people living there compared to a little over four million in Ireland. Russia are fully supported by their governments, both local and central.

“They are funded and well equipped. Compare that to what happens in Ireland where our athletes get zero funding and support from government.

“In fact it’s quite the opposite, many of our development clubs are full time premises. They get zero tax cuts and they are hammered with commercial rates from local government.

“None the less, clubs like ours and many others continue to put the young athletes first giving them a future in sport, taking them off street corners and educating them through sport.

“A racehorse gets more chances in this country before our junior kickboxers. It’s a shame, but at the same time it’s credit to all involved with our sport, our families, our national executive and our parents and volunteers that we have earned such a marvellous position on the medal table”