Five members of Red Star had the privilege to represent Ireland at the recent WAKO junior and cadet world championships in Rimini, Italy.
Robbie, Brendan, Samy, Lauren and Eliza at the Stadium 105, Rimini, Italy
Brendan Kenny (Galway), Lauren Bradshaw (Dublin), Eliza Bluma (Dublin), Robbie Walsh (Galway) and Samy Lamari (Elite TKD) were all chosen to attend the WAKO World Kickboxing Championships after meeting the criteria set down by Kickboxing Ireland and after they had all won the national championships in their respective weight categories early in the year.
All competitors faced stiff opposition from the very best junior kickboxers in the world today. There is no other championships that attracts such a high standard from across the globe. This years tournament broke WAKO records as over 6o countries and 2,500 athletes were in attendance to fight for the coveted title of WAKO World Champion.
The beautiful 105 Stadium in Rimini. Professional and state of the art.
Eliza wins against Poland
Eliza Bluma in the -50kg division was the first of Red Star’s cadet fighters to take to the mats. She was drawn against Poland for her first fight and in fine style she beat the Polish fighter with her skillful lead leg and boxing combinations. This victory put Eliza through to the last eight where she was faced against a very tough and heavier Slovakian kickboxer. Unfortunately for Eliza the experienced Slovakian took the victory and Eliza went out of the tournament. This was Eliza’s first major international which was a great experience for her. The cherry on the cake for Eliza was having world famous Taekwon-Do and Kickboxing fighter Tomaz Barada chase her down for a photo! He was very impressed by her style, and rightly so. Eliza is a champion in the making. Mark my words.
Next up for Red Star was Robbie Walsh from Galway who was competing in the -52kg cadet division. Robbie was placed against Bulgaria in his opening bout and he took a clean win out-pointing his opponent with tidy hand work. Robbie went into the last eight to face Russia. The Russian team are very skilful and experienced. It was these attributes that led to Robbie exiting the tournament after losing out to the eventual winner of the group. Again at only 15 Robbie has a bright future ahead of him.
World bronze medallist Lauren Bradshaw
Red Star’s most decorated international fighter was up next. Lauren Bradshaw drew Russia in the +70kg junior division. In fine style she demolished the big Russian in three easy rounds which landed her a rematch against Ela Filipovic the (then) current WAKO World Champion. Lauren and Ela had already fought in the WAKO European championships in 2013 when Lauren won by split decision. This time round it was the Croatian girl that was to take the victory. Ela had trained to beat Lauren and over the three rounds maintained a very high guard and used her lead leg diligently. The Croatian was a very slick fighter leaving Lauren to chase points running into the third and final round. Ela went on into the final where she lost against Tomaz Barada’s fighter Ursa Terdin of Slovenia leaving Lauren in third place and earning herself a WAKO World bronze medal to add to her European Gold of last year.
Samy Lamari came on board Red Star from Elite TKD under Master Terry Donnelly. Samy competed in the -79kg junior division. He was drawn against Britain for his first fight and was unfortunately outpointed over three rounds. Samy made a good account of himself fighting the British opponent tooth and nail but the British lad was just too sharp. Again this was Samy’s first WAKO international. It takes time and patience to break through at this level and no doubt we’ll see Samy back on the mats again soon.
Brendan wins against Russia in the semi final
Last up for Red Star was the “Galway Gladiator” Brendan Kenny who fought in the -79kg junior division. Brendan was one of Ireland’s favourites to reach a WAKO final and he didn’t disappoint. He drew Croatia in the first round, a fight he completely dominated taking a 3-0 unanimous decision. In the last eight he drew a very stylish Italian fighter. Brendan stopped him with a switch back kick perfectly timed which led to the referee stopping the fight as the Italian couldn’t continue with the injury to his ribs. In the quarter final he drew Russia. The Russian was a very clever fighter and the fight was close all the way through with Brendan taking the win by split decision in the third and final round. This led Brendan smack bang into a WAKO World final, which was our goal from the outset. He drew the second Russian fighter in the division. On finals day he took to the centre ring very composed and confident and rightly so, he had been on fire throughout the tournament. To our dismay in the corner some of Brendan’s very clean combinations weren’t scored and some of the Russian’s combinations under pressure were scored. This put Brendan behind after the first round. In the second round we pushed our tactics a bit stronger and we managed to pull the round back even after a clean head kick wasn’t scored. The centre referee was not strong and became involved in the scoring of the match which was a big mistake for him. The fight was very close coming into the third round and with 20 seconds left Brendan went ahead by one judge. In the last flurry of the fight, the last 10 seconds, the Russian scored leaving Brendan to chase a head kick which wasn’t to happen. It was a cruel split decision in favour of Russia. Brendan and the coaching team were shocked, it was clear to everyone who had done most of the scoring, but the judges saw it the other way – the win went to Russia and Brendan had to settle for a WAKO silver medal (Vice World Champion). After the dust had settled it became apparent how well the young lad from Galway had done. Wipe away the result in the final and we see how he actually performed out of his skin beating three world class fighters to reach a WAKO World final, not many can say they have done that. He is the very first person from Galway to compete at such a high level and to bring back a WAKO silver medal for continuous Kickboxing, a feat he should be very proud of.
World silver medalist Brendan Kenny (left) Red Star Coach and National Team Coach Jon Mackey (centre) Lauren Bradshaw (right)
Ireland over all did amazingly with cadets and juniors medalling across the board in many disciplines including semi-contact (points), Light Contact (continuous) Kick Light (low kick) Full Contact and Musical forms. Well done to everyone of the fighters, their coaching teams, staff and families. They are a credit to Kickboxing Ireland.
